Why couldn't he get it right?
by RixxiSpooks
Summary: Reela fic mixed with Luby. Tommy is Ray's son through and through, with the band, the charm, the sarcasm and the big heart hidden beneath it all. Enjoy! Rated for some language.
1. Getting it right

"Dammit!" He threw his guitar down on the bed and slumped onto the floor. Why couldn't he get it right? It never sounded like it was a true song, the lyrics never fitted completely. He was supposed to be the main writer for the band yet he couldn't ever come up with anything good, not since the first song he had ever written. That must have been a fluke. After he had written that song Dom, his best mate, had thought it would be a great idea to start a band, Ricochet. He had no idea where the name came from Dom just randomly thought it up. Then they had got together with Ollie, James and Myles to make the band whole. He, Dom and Ollie were on the guitars, James on the keyboard and Myles on the drums. It was a pretty awesome combo but they just couldn't come up with the songs.

"And that's my fault," he muttered to himself, "Christ, I suck at this." Then he hauled himself up and wandered over to his desk. _May as well get some homework done, _he thought,_ I have a ton of stuff in for tomorrow.

* * *

_

Downstairs, Ray noticed that the music that had been floating from his son's bedroom had stopped. He wondered why, it had sounded really good to him; maybe he had some homework to do.

Ray loved hearing his fourteen year old son, Tommy, playing the guitar. He had been absolutely delighted when Tommy had first wanted to start playing the instrument and had encouraged him no end. Of course Tommy had no idea why his dad was so eager for him to play, he was a doctor, why would he be interested in music? But Tommy had still been pleased when Ray bought him a guitar.

Ray had never told Tommy about his Roc Doc days and his son just thought he was some boring old doctor. Though, secretly, Tommy did admire his dad a lot for having this job. Plus Tommy never needed to worry about being injured because _both _his parents were doctors at County hospital.

Ray lent back on the couch, working himself into a comfortable position so he could watch the tv. Closing his eyes, Ray enjoyed the peaceful silence after a long day at work. He didn't hear the key turn in the lock or the creaky door opening. Though he did hear "Hey lazybones, whilst you've been resting your butt here I've been rushing round the ER saving lives." Ray felt his wife, Neela, land on his chest, his eyes sprung open.

"Well I was doing it before you, it was your turn!" Ray grinned and kissed her passionately. Neela kissed him back and smiled.

"Urgh, that is just rank!" Neela and Ray looked up and saw their son standing in the living room doorway. They laughed. "Can't you save it for the bedroom? You're worse than…worse than… I dunno whatever animal mates a lot." Tommy trailed off, gave them a disgusted look and padded off to the kitchen, he was starving. Neela pulled herself away from Ray's warm body and went after her son.

She entered the kitchen and watched Tommy ransacking the fridge. _He was beautiful, _Neela thought to herself,_ with Ray's brown hair, startling green eyes and build and her bronze skin colour. He was going to break a lot of hearts._ Not that she had heard about him having any girlfriends at all yet.

A pair of freezing cold hands suddenly found their way under her t-shirt "EEK" She jumped about two feet in the air and came back down with a bump. She spun round and shrieked "You bastard! Your hands are bloody cold Ray!" Ray just laughed.

"Not only do you display sexual scenes to me but you yell swear words, nineteen to the dozen, in my ear. Do you want me to grow up into one of those nut jobs with a 'disturbed childhood'?" Tommy sighed, his raid on the fridge having been unsuccessful "I also think you are trying to starve me. Where's all the food gone?"

"In your tummy, that's where," Neela told him, patting his stomach.

"Tummy? I mean really, how old do you think I am now? Five?" Tommy groaned.

"Yep, you're my ickle lickle baby." Neela said, cooing to him.

"Mom! Stop it!" Tommy backed away "Dad help!" Tommy pleaded with Ray. Ray just burst out laughing. Tommy scowled at him and turned tail to run up the stairs.

"Takeaway alright with you?" Neela called after him still giggling.

"Yeah whatever," came the disgruntled reply.

"Ooh you are _evil_" Ray shook his head, knowing how embarrassed he would have felt had he been in that situation.

"Oh I know" Neela said, a wicked smirk playing across her face.

* * *

Tommy moaned this homework was driving him crazy. Why the hell should he care what happened in 1675 or 1791? Rolling off his bed, where he had been revising for a test, he stood up and went downstairs to see if the takeaway was there yet. Taking the steps two at a time, he thundered down the stairs. Ray popped his head out of the kitchen, chopsticks in hand, "Are you alright, it sounded like you were falling down the stairs?"

"Yep" Tommy skidded to a halt by his dad "Hey you've started without me!"

"Oh yeah sorry mate, we got a bit peckish" his dad grinned. Tommy just barged past him and set to devouring all the food on the table.

"Hungry then?" Ray asked

"Famished" Was all Tommy could manage through his mouthful.

When they had all finished and cleared up, Ray sent Tommy up to bed "You have a test tomorrow, you need the sleep."

"Oh but dad it's only history, I'll probably fall asleep in the test anyway," Tommy pleaded but Ray didn't falter.

"Off you go, while you're under our roof you'll go to bed when we say. Besides your mom and I are going to bed now, we have early shifts so you'll have to get yourself up."

"Yeah well maybe I won't bother" Tommy sighed and tramped upstairs.

* * *

Ray walked into the ER and grimaced, it was already looking busy and it was only six in the morning. Neela hurried in behind him "Man that snow is freezing!" She shook her raven-hair and specks of powdery white snow fell out.

"Yeah well it is December" Chuny said as she passed.

"I know, but still" Neela rubbed her arms to keep warm.

"Dr. Barnett, Dr. Rasgotra there is a MVA coming in, in about five minutes, can you take it?" Chuny asked coming back the other way with some supplies.

"Sure" they replied in unison, pulling on their white coats and stethoscopes.

* * *

Tommy kicked a ball against the wall behind his school, he'd really crapped up in the history exam and now he was mentally berating himself for it. How could he not remember all the dates, he had listened to bloody Mr Stones long enough in lessons?! Dammit! Right now all he needed was his guitar but that was at home. It helped him vent his feelings.

"Hey!!!" Tommy turned round and spotted his friends Dom and Ollie.

"Hi," Tommy answered dully.

"What's wrong?" Ollie asked, "Are you still cross that you totally messed up that exam?" Tommy nodded.

"Jesus mate! It was only a test, I got a D, you got a C, who gives a toss? Anyway you do well in all the other tests A, A, A and more A's! You are really smart! You are really good at sport and music, you get loads of chicks asking you out – though for the life of me I don't know why you refused all of them – what more could you want?" Dom cried out, amazed that his friend was getting so worked up over one stupid test. Both his parent's were doctor's for Christ's sake, he had to be smart, nothing could change that.

"But…" Tommy started.

"Look mate we don't particularly care, we were just wondering whether we could come over to yours and practise tonight. Your parents are the only ones who never seem to mind, I think they're immune to our noise." Dom said. Tommy chuckled.

"Yeah sure," he agreed, "Wanna play soccer?"

* * *

"You know I've always said I didn't mind the noise!" Neela yelled to Ray.

"Yes?"

"Well I've changed my mind! Is it just me or have they got louder since last time?"

"I dunno but they can't be any worse than how we were," Ray shouted back, "You lived with our band for longer than this."

"I know but still, I didn't remember how annoying it was!" Neela replied. Ray laughed at her and then seeing the scowl on her face, swept her into a hug. He kissed her on the lips and stroked her cheeks.

"I love you, you know that?" Ray whispered in her ear.

"I love you too" Neela kissed him back.


	2. One note from the other

_Um…I just wanted to say that the writing in this is probably overly British and I'm sorry if it sounds a bit wrong cos I'm not American so I don't know much about how they speak! I apologise in advance and thanks to people for pointing it out in my reviews!

* * *

_

"So…have you got any new songs for us Tom?" James asked, sipping at his lemonade.

"Yeah, I'm kinda getting bored of playing the same rhythms over," Myles agreed. He walked over to his drum kit that had now taken up residence in Tommy's basement, and started playing a rather energetic beat. With a final clash of the cymbal, he grinned at them.

"I see someone's been practicing" Dom laughed, usually Myles' rhythms were slightly, for want of a better word, off. "So Tommy, _have_ you written anymore?"

"Um…" Tommy felt his cheeks flush, not wanting to let his mates down, "No, sorry, I tried, I really did!" He scanned their faces to see what their reactions were, but all of their facial expressions remained passively blank.

"I seem to have a temporary block, I just can't think of a good subject!" Tommy tried to defend himself even though none of his friends had actually said anything. There was an awkward silence, then….

"You've had a block since the first song you've ever written" Ollie suddenly burst out. They all turned to stare at him. "It's true though! You have to admit it!"

Nobody backed him; they couldn't do it to Tommy.

"Shut up Ollie" Dom retorted "Tommy just needs some time, he'll get it eventually."

"Eventually ain't good enough, we need good stuff now if this band is gunna go anywhere." Ollie spat savagely.

"Who said anything about the band going anywhere, it's just a bit of fun" Dom argued.

"What? Just a bit of fun, I spend half my time with this shitty band and now you tell me it's not going anywhere? Well fuck you then!" Ollie shouted and stormed out of the basement.

* * *

Ray and Neela, who had just been having a rather passionate snogging session, leapt back as the basement door was flung open and a thunderous looking Ollie came out. He walked straight past them and out of the house. "I wonder what's up with him." Ray said, puzzled.

"I don't know but it didn't look like he was very happy." Neela replied, eyeing the basement door. Ray, catching her drift, went to check on them.

He got down into the basement and saw that the guys were packing up, "Hey. I thought you lot were gunna be here much longer. Neela and I were wondering whether we were going to have to order a mass takeout."

"No dad, they're going" Tommy said, picking up his guitar and pushing past Ray.

"Whoa where are you going in such a hurry?" Ray asked his son.

"To my bedroom," came the sharp reply. Ray looked around at Tommy's band mates but their faces betrayed nothing. He guessed he would have to find out for himself.

"See ya Mr Barnett" Myles said as the three boys traipsed past him.

"Bye" he said. After they had gone he headed for Tommy's bedroom.

* * *

Opening the door he was not expecting what he saw at all. Sprawled across the bed was Tommy, his whole body was shuddering, he was…crying. Ray couldn't believe it; he hadn't seen Tommy cry since he was about five, now he had no idea how to react! Tommy didn't even bother to look up as his dad came over and sat on the bed.

"What's wrong mate?" Ray asked. He got no reply. "Tommy?" He gently shook his son's arm.

"No…nothing" Tommy mumbled into his pillow.

"Oh come on you gotta help me out here kiddo, otherwise I can't help." Ray poked Tommy in the side, trying to provoke a response. He knew that Tommy was really ticklish. Tommy jerked trying to get away. Ray went after him, tickling him until he cried out in protest.

"Hey! Hey!" Tommy choked out, laughing and crying at the same time. "I surrender!"

_Well that went well _Ray thought, at least Tommy wasn't as upset.

"If you want me to stop then you gotta tell me the problem. Why did Ollie storm out?" At first he didn't think that Tommy was going to tell him but then he drew in a deep breath, paused and said hesitantly, "Well, how do I put this? Er…I haven't been able to come up with any new songs, not since the first one and Ollie got kinda annoyed with me so he left."

"That's stupid!" Ray said "What a jerk! You'll get a song in time."

"But that's the thing dad, I can't come up with anything, I don't think I ever will!" Tommy looked so upset that Ray hugged him, not caring that he would probably be embarrassed. To his surprise, though, Tommy hugged him back. Ray rested his chin on the top of Tommy's head and marvelled that he still had that sweet child smell about him even though he was a teenager.

"Look, Tommy, d'you want me to help?"

"How could you help with music, do you even know one note from the other?" Tommy teased.

"Hey, I used to play the guitar y'know!" Ray retorted. He picked up Tommy's guitar and strummed it, making sure he still knew how to play. He'd given up the guitar when he'd married Neela and had Tommy, he hadn't had the time. That was fourteen years ago. His instrument was stashed somewhere in the attic.

Tommy just watched him, shaking his head, thinking his dad was going to make a fool of himself. Ray tapped his foot and then started to play. It was slow and quiet to begin with but then Ray picked up the speed and launched into a full scale rock tune. Tommy just gaped. "Wha…what? You can play the guitar?!"

"Yeah, you may think I'm a boring old loser but I used to be in a rock band. I was called the Roc Doc!" Ray grinned at his son's expression.

"Wow!" Tommy exclaimed.

"You want me to show you some stuff? I used to write songs." Ray offered.

"Sure!" Tommy jumped on the chance to spend some time with his dad because he wasn't there that often. Being a doctor and everything.

* * *

Neela watched from the doorway as father and son spent some quality time together, they looked so cute, spiky-haired heads bent together, discussing lyrics. They didn't even notice her, they were so engrossed. She loved her family so much and she never wanted to lose them. 


	3. Keep Joe company

_Thanks for the reviews people, what's a beta-reader or whatever you said MoonlitClarity? I haven't got one so you can be it if you tell me what it is. I'm sorry if the story's going a bit slow but I don't want to finish it too soon. Sorry about being too British as well!

* * *

_

"Look I really think you should be going to bed now, its midnight…" Neela started as she came into Tommy's bedroom but she stopped at the sight of Ray and Tommy both conked out on the bed. Tommy's head was resting on Ray's chest as it slowly rose and fell, guitar still clutched in his hand, and Ray was snoring gently. Neela smiled lovingly, _no wonder they were tired, they had been up here for hours_, she thought. Heading to her own bedroom, Neela gratefully slipped under the covers and fell asleep, knowing that she and Ray had to be awake in five hours for their shifts. She was going to have trouble getting him up in the morning.

* * *

"Ray." Ray heard a voice whisper softly in his ear. "We need to go to work."

"Huh?" he grunted still half asleep. He started to sit up.

"Careful! You'll wake Tommy, he doesn't need to get up yet, it's Saturday." Neela moaned as Ray jerked awake. It was too late, Tommy's eyes snapped open.

"What time is it?" he asked, more alert than his father.

"Five, go back to sleep Tom, we're going to work." Neela shushed him.

"Nah" Tommy replied "Not tired." With that he sprung up off the bed and disappeared downstairs, no doubt to the refrigerator for food. _No matter how much_ _that boy eats he's still skin and bone_, Neela thought to herself. Neela now turned her attention to Ray.

"Come on," she shook him, "You're so lazy, Tommy's already up and you are the one who actually needs to go to work."

"Yeah well take him instead then," Ray mumbled.

"I would but I'm afraid he's not quite qualified just yet, cleverer than you he may be!" Neela joked. Ray made an indistinguishable sound and practically fell off the bed.

"Alright I'm up" he said groggily, hauling himself up off the floor. "Who invented working on a Saturday? They must have been a moron." Neela followed her grumbling husband downstairs.

In the kitchen they were greeted with the sight of Tommy licking the last of his cereal bowl clean. He grinned at them, eyes sparkling.

"How come you're so awake?" Ray yawned, pulling up a chair and dragging the cereal box towards him. "I'm the one who has to work."

"Get over yourself dad, I'll have to work some day, but until then I'm free on Saturdays" Tommy taunted. "Anyway I'm going out to play soccer with Dom."

"It's five o' bloody clock in the morning Tom!" Ray said exasperated.

"Yeah and we are going for a jog, it freshens you up. You look like you need one, you look…well let's say you've looked better." Tommy eyed his dishevelled father.

"Thanks a bunch" Ray said, scowling.

"Don't do that dad, it just makes it worse!" Tommy grinned and darted out of the room.

"Oi!" Ray yelled after him as he heard the front door close. "That kid has no respect for me"

"And you wonder why" Neela laughed as Ray almost fell asleep in his cereal.

* * *

"Hey Dom!" Tommy shouted to his friend as he spotted him sitting on a bench in the park.

"Yo Tommy, you look happy today," Dom remarked.

"Yeah, guess what? My dad used to be in a band! He's really good and he showed me a load of cool stuff!" Tommy said, "He helped me write a song!"

"Awesome!" Dom grinned, "You'll have to show us later! But now we have a jog to do."

"Yeah," Tommy said and set off.

* * *

"Earth to Ray," a hand waved in front of his face.

"You what?" Ray looked up and spotted Abby. She was smiling at him and he made a face. "What are you smiling about?"

"You! That's the third time today you've fallen asleep! What did you do last night?" Abby asked. Ray didn't reply he just remembered, with a smile, spending time with his son.

"Abby, Ray! There's been a massive pile up, mass casualties, first ETA two minutes!" Chuny yelled at them, "D'you know where Luka is?"

"Yeah, he's got the day off today; he promised Joe and Ana that he would take them to a baseball game." Abby said.

"Well Weaver is asking for him to be here, d'you know how I can get hold of him?"

"Just page him, he'll be in," Abby sighed, knowing that Joe would be especially upset, he'd been waiting for this game for ages, Ana was too young to understand.

"Kay thanks," Chuny disappeared.

"Looks like we're gunna be having a lot of _fun _today!" Abby sighed, waiting for Ray's witty reply, "Ray? Ray? Oh for god's sake Ray!" She noticed him, head in arms, sleeping, leaning against the desk. She shook him fiercely. He jumped up and said, "I'm awake!"

"Yeah right!" Abby laughed.

* * *

"And he gets the ball and he shoots and he sco… NO! Man, why d'ya have to be so damned good at soccer," Dom moaned as his moment of glory was taken away from him by a well placed foot from Tommy. Tommy grinned and set off with the ball. He weaved between the opposing players in the park, James, Dom and some other boys, before reaching the goal and chipping the ball into the back of the net. "Score!" Tommy yelled.

"Brilliant goal Tom!" Myles clapped him on the back. Dom looked at them both, sourly.

"Why do I always have to be on the losing team?" he sighed.

"Dunno, maybe its cos you're never on Tommy's team," Myles smirked.

"Yeah, yeah but it would be nowhere near fair if me and SuperTom here were on the same team," Dom retorted. Myles just laughed.

"Hey enough talk, more play," Tommy interrupted, hitting Dom on the arm with the soccer ball. Dom turned round and grabbed the ball out of his hands.

"We'll play more if you can catch me!" Dom yelled, sprinting off.

"Oi no fair!" James shouted after him and then he, with everyone else, gave chase.

* * *

"I'm sorry Mrs Down, due to the serious injuries Daniel had, we couldn't save him," Ray hated doing this. It was the worst part of the job, telling a relative that their loved one had died. Mrs Down collapsed on the chair, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"No…" was all she said.

Daniel had been brought in from the pile up; he and his sister had been riding their bikes at the time, when a driver had veered off the road to avoid the crash and hit him, he had been buried under the wreckage. He hadn't really stood a chance. Ray sighed, sat down and put his arm around the distraught woman. Neela came up at just that moment, "Um Ray," she said awkwardly, "Can I talk to you?"

"Er…yeah" Ray stood up and left Mrs Down. He followed Neela further down the corridor. "What is it?"

"Her daughter has been found at the site too…" Neela said, trailing off.

"Oh no," Ray groaned, knowing what she was about to say.

"She's dead Ray," Neela told him sadly.

"What do I tell her mom?" Ray asked.

"I don't know why don't you wait a bit?" Neela said. "She needs time."

"Yeah" Ray agreed, looking over his shoulder at the grieving mother.

"Ray?" Neela said Ray looked at her, "D'you know whether Tommy has his cell phone on him?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he does, why?" Ray asked, curiously.

"Oh cos I was thinking that he could maybe go over to Joe's to keep him company now Luka is here," Neela replied.

"Yeah that would be good for them both; they haven't seen each other in awhile. I'll call him if you want?" Ray said.

"Thanks," Neela accepted his offer and went to help with a trauma.

* * *

"Mwhahaha!" Tommy gave an evil sounding laugh and launched himself at Dom. Dom felt his feet go from beneath him and fell heavily on the floor.

"Ow!" he cursed his friend, standing up and rubbing his grass stained knees.

"Sorry," Tommy tried to sound apologetic but failed miserably because he burst out laughing.

"Ha ha, soo funny!" Dom sighed, giving up the ball. Tommy took it and was about to kick it when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. Taking it out he looked at the caller, it was his dad.

"Hey dad," Tommy said.

"Hi Tommy, how y'doing?" Ray asked.

"Fine, what are you calling about?"

"Um…your mom was wondering whether you could go over to Joe's to keep him company. He was meant to go to a baseball game today but Luka got called in." Ray said.

"Oh but dad! I was playing soccer!" Tommy moaned.

"Please Tom." Ray said.

"Fine I'll go." Tommy said defeated.


	4. Don't try and restrain her

_Uh sorry for my lack of medical knowledge in this chapter, please forgive me! I tried!

* * *

_

Tommy knocked on his god-parents door, hopping from one foot to the other nervously, guitar slung over his shoulder. He had never been with Joe on his own; yeah he had been over many a time for thanks giving and stuff, but always with his parents. He and Joe had never spoken much on those occasions, opting to listen to their parents babble on about the 'old days' before they had the burden of kids. Now he wasn't sure what to say or do.

The door opened and a solemn looking Joe answered.

"Hey man!" Tommy said in greeting.

"Hullo, what are you doing here?" he replied unenthusiastically. Joe was two years older than Tommy and didn't think much of him. He just remembered him as that annoying ten year old that had followed him around, although he had grown a lot since then, Joe observed.

"Er… my dad said that I should come over and give you some company," Tommy answered.

_Oh great, _Joe thought but said aloud "Kay, come in." Tommy followed the older boy into the house. Then Joe disappeared upstairs leaving Tommy to wonder what to do. He walked around the house a bit, thinking that maybe he should just go when a little figure entered the room. It was Ana, Luka and Abby's miracle daughter who had happened when they thought they couldn't have anymore kids. She was four.

"Hello, who are you?" she asked shyly, clutching a teddy bear to her.

"Tommy, don't you remember me?" he said, crouching down to be at her level.

"Um…sort of" the little girl whispered, coming over to him and staring at him. Tommy felt like he was being judged. "I like you" she said simply.

"What?" Tommy was caught off guard.

"I like you, d' you wanna play a game?" Ana asked, turning round and beckoning for him to follow.

"Okay," Tommy went after her. If Joe wasn't gunna talk to him then he could always keep Ana company.

* * *

"Neela!" a voice called to her. She turned round and caught sight of Luka.

"Hey, what's up?" she said.

"Er…has Tommy gone round to Joe's?"

"Yeah, we thought they should spend more time together," Neela replied.

"Okay, good, but I'm not sure if Joe is going be very nice company, he's a bit…grumpy," Luka said making a face.

"Oh, I'm sure Tommy can deal with it," Neela answered, "He's good at cheering people up." _Just like his dad, _she thought, remembering their time as roomies.

"Okay. D'you want to take the guy in exam 1? Luka asked.

"Sure," Neela set off to the exam room.

* * *

Ray looked at all the charts in the rack, "Can I not just wait for the next batch to come in? These are….not nice."

"Hey man, whatsup?" Morris joined him by the rack, "Not up for…projectile vomiting, diarrhoea or ergh…ok not even I would do that one!" Ray laughed at Morris' disgusted expression.

"Well I think I've chosen" Ray said picking up the diarrhoea. "Good luck with either the projectile vomiting or _that! _Try not to get too messed up!"

"Oh ha ha" Morris said sarcastically.

* * *

"Yey, I win again!" Ana laughed and put all her cards down on the table.

"How'd you do that?" Tommy gawped; he'd been beaten by the four year old for the third time.

"Guess I'm pretty good," she grinned cheekily, "Plus Joe gives me lessons on it, and he is brilliant."

"Ok how bout we play a game that you haven't been well practised at." Tommy said feeling rather depressed.

"Um…we could go on the play station, it is Joe's but I'm sure he won't mind," Ana said.

"Kay, what games have you got?" Tommy asked, joining her by the tv.

"Um…this is the only game I'm allowed to play; all the others are too old." Ana held up a car racing game in her hand.

"Right, prepare to be thrashed," Tommy grinned.

A few hours later they were still playing, Tommy was winning by miles. "Yes," Tommy yelled as he crossed the line in his Ferrari.

"Oh," Ana said rather half-heartedly. Tommy noticed she was looking a bit pale.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, concerned.

"A bit tired," Ana said. Tommy looked at his watch, it was coming up to one o'clock, they had been playing for ages. But it was still a bit strange for Ana to be tired at this time; maybe she was coming down with something. He felt her forehead, it was boiling. _What should I do?_ He thought. _Maybe I should take her temperature._

"Hey, how bout I take you up to your bed and I can take your temperature, where is your medicine cabinet?" Tommy asked, scooping her light form up.

"In the bathroom, I'm not allowed to go in it," she said weakly.

"Okay," Tommy carried her up the stairs and into her overly pink bedroom. He set her down on the bed and said, "I'll be back in a mo." She mumbled something he didn't understand and pulled her covers over herself. Tommy found the bathroom and the medicine cabinet. The thermometer was inside. He headed back to the bedroom and found that Ana had gotten out of bed. She looked even whiter than before.

"I want my mom," she wailed.

"Sweetie, your mom's working," Tommy replied softly, coming over to her and putting his hand on her shoulder. Suddenly he felt her whole body stiffen, her jaw clenched and her eyes closed. Then she fell to the floor, hitting her head on the bed on the way down.

"What the hell?!" Tommy yelped as the little girl started jerking, her body convulsing on the floor. It was a horrible thing to watch and Tommy didn't know what to do to stop it. The only thing he could think of was calling Joe; maybe he would know what to do. "JOE!" he yelled down the landing, "HELP!" Joe rushed out of his bedroom and spotted Tommy's terrified face.

"What's happened?" he asked running into his little sister's bedroom. He froze at the site of her seizing on the floor. "Ana!"

"I don't know what happened," Tommy said, "She had a temperature and then she did this."

"It looks like epilepsy," Joe said suddenly, taking control of the situation. Tommy saw a lot of his dad in him at that moment. "Though I'm not sure, she's never fitted before."

"What do we do?"

"Move all the furniture out the way, she could hurt herself more," Joe eyed the gash on her head from the bed, "Don't try and restrain her, er…." He tried desperately to remember what his dad had told him, "Put something under her head and get rid of anything round her neck." Tommy followed his instructions.

"Now what, she hasn't stopped seizing, it's been…," he looked at his watch, "Five minutes!"

"I don't know, dad said they aren't usually this long!" Joe said, clearly upset.

"Should we call an ambulance?" Tommy asked, "Or anyone…" He tailed off because the seizing stopped, Ana was completely still. Too still. She hadn't regained consciousness.

"Crap," Joe said, "We have to get to the ER, but there is no point in calling for an ambulance, County is just down the road, waste of time," With that Joe quickly picked up his fragile little sister's body and hurried out of the room and down the stairs.

"What?" Tommy scurried after him. "You're not telling me you are gunna carry her there."

"Yes, that is _exactly_ what I'm telling you," Joe said fiercely, kicking the front door open.

"Shouldn't we, I dunno phone your dad or summin?" Tommy asked anxiously, "Get him to come over."

"No point, there is more stuff in the ER that can help her," Joe grunted, half running down the road to the hospital.

"Okay," Tommy said tailing the older boy. He stared into Ana's chalk white face and knew Joe was right; they needed to get to the hospital and quickly…


	5. Toy Guitars

_Sorry for the lack of medical words in this chapter!_

* * *

Tommy and Joe reached the ER entrance, Ana getting worse by the second. The first doctor they met was Morris; he was waiting for an ambulance to come in.

"Hey guys," he shouted over to them, not noticing the girl cradled in Joe's arms. _Dad_ _was right T_ommy thought _Morris isn't the most…observant of people. _"What's up?" Joe was too breathless to answer and Tommy was too upset, all he could utter was "Ana…"

Morris finally spotted Ana, blood streaking her white face, eyes closed, and said, "Oh god…" He ran over and took the girl from Joe, "Can I get a gurney over here?!" he yelled. Chuny and another nurse burst out of the double doors with a gurney.

"Isn't that Luka's dau…?" Chuny started but Morris cut her off by nodding and slipping Ana onto the gurney. Chuny gasped.

"Tell us exactly what happened," Morris demanded, looking from Joe to Tommy, neither answered for a moment, "Come on!" Morris shouted at them.

"I think its epilepsy, she had a seizure," Joe blurted out. Morris looked at him wide eyed.

"She said she was feeling tired, she was burning up," Tommy added, "Then she just went all kinda stiff and collapsed. That's when she started seizing."

"Right, for how long?" Morris asked. They were now following the gurney into trauma one.

"Er…five minutes, then she stopped but she didn't wake up," Tommy said, watching as the nurses started attaching all sorts of tubes and machines to Ana.

"Okay, I really think you two should wait outside," Morris said distracted by a machine beeping by Ana's side. He ushered them outside.

Tommy drew in a deep breath, _what the hell has just happened? _Everything had just gone in a blur. He looked through the window into the trauma room and then looked away as Ana crashed. He couldn't watch. Joe was standing behind him; tears were welling in his eyes. Without thinking Tommy walked up and put his arm round the older boy's shoulders. "She'll be okay," he reassured.

"Hey what are you two doing here?" Tommy spun round as he heard the familiar voice of his dad. "Has anything happened?" Ray asked, suddenly concerned as he saw the look on Tommy's face.

"It's Ana, she's in there," Tommy pointed into the trauma room where Morris was trying to stabilise her. Ray's eyes widened.

"What! No! What happened?" he yelped, "Has anyone told Luka or Abby?"

"Told me what?" Abby asked coming up behind them, "Luka's upstairs with a patient, you won't get hold of him in awhile." Everyone froze and Abby instantly knew something was wrong. Her eyes flicked from them to the trauma room. Recognition flashed across her features at the little body on the gurney.

"Ana!" she screamed and ran into the room, Ray ran after her, telling Tommy and Joe to wait in the family room.

"Abby," Ray said catching her arm before she practically threw herself at the gurney.

"My baby! My little baby girl," she cried out, tears streaming down her face. Morris looked up from working on Ana.

"Abby calm down," he said to her, then to a nurse, "She's not breathing well I think we are gunna have to intubate."

"Wha…what happened?" Abby managed to get out.

"Yeah what did happen?" Ray joined having being interrupted when he'd asked previously.

"Er…" Morris muttered as he slid the tube down Ana's throat, "She seized for five minutes and didn't regain consciousness so Joe carried her here. She hit her head in the fall, that's where the blood's from. We are pretty sure its epilepsy but we are waiting on the CT scan."

"Epilepsy?" Abby choked, then a wave of fresh tears struck her and she buried her head in her friend's chest. Ray hugged her tight, comforting her.

"D'you know where Dr Kovac is?" Morris asked, "I think he should be here."

"Upstairs," came Ray's reply, "He's with a patient. I'll get him." He let go of Abby and told her that she was no good in here and that she should go check on Joe. Then he headed for the lift, wondering how he was gunna break the news to Luka. _How long does this bloody lift take?_ He thought _Oh forget it I'll take the stairs. _Ray loped up the stairs two at a time and made it to ICU where Abby said Luka was.

Ray spotted Luka's tall, dark figure standing over a young boy in a hospital bed. The boy was unconscious. "Luka," Ray called, wincing as he intruded on the moment of silence. Luka turned and saw Ray, "What are you doing here?" Luka asked.

"Er, its Ana she had a seizure and didn't wake up, she's in the ER, Trauma one," Ray said in one breath. He watched as Luka's face twisted in horror. Then Luka sped past him and disappeared down the stairs, not even bothering with the lift. Ray followed.

* * *

"My sister," Joe trembled, his head in his hands. "What if she dies?"

"She won't die, of course she won't," Tommy reassured him.

"But I didn't do enough, I should have known more about medical stuff, you know? For Christ's sake both my parents are doctors, I should've…"

"So are mine and I hadn't a clue, you can't blame yourself Joe," Tommy said.

The door opened and the boys looked up. Abby entered and slumped on a chair, her face streaked with tears.

"Is Ana alright?" Joe asked immediately. His mom didn't reply. "She's not dead is she?"

"No…no she's gunna be okay," Abby sighed, "But she has got epilepsy."

"Oh mom, she'll be fine, it won't affect her that badly," Joe said, changing from being to the comforted to the comforter in seconds, "Where's dad?"

"He's with her at the moment," Abby replied.

* * *

A few hours later Tommy was on his own in the family room, he was fiddling with a toy guitar, it was pretty useless but he liked the feel of it in his hands. Abby, Luka and Joe were in with Ana because she had woken up. She was going to be able to go home the next day but she was going to have to take anti-epileptic medicine. Tommy was just glad she was alright.

Tommy sunk back in the couch, still holding the mini guitar, and closed his eyes, suddenly he was feeling really tired. His ears pricked up as he heard the door creak open but he couldn't be bothered to open his eyes. "Tommy?" a soft voice called from the door. It was his mom. He didn't want to talk right now so he kept his eyes closed. Neela left.

"Is he in there?" Ray asked, watching Neela as she closed the door quietly.

"Yes, but he's asleep," Neela replied.

"Oh" Ray smiled, "His early morning finally catching up with him is it?"

"Yeah I guess so" Neela said "This was probably quite scary for him too, no wonder he's exhausted."

"Well my shift ended," Ray looked at his watch, "Fifteen minutes ago, so I vote we go home."

"Me too," Neela nodded, "Are you gunna wake him up or am I?" Ray dodged away quickly, heading for the admit desk. "I've just remembered I gotta do something, see you outside!"

"You coward!" Neela yelled at his retreating back, "Fine it must be me doing it then."


	6. I surrender!

_Sorry I kinda skipped away from Ana but this is mainly about Reela and Tommy and I couldn't be bothered to go into detail about recovery._

_Thanks for the reviews and I'm sorry about the dodgy ages and the hysterectomy. Also about Abby's slightly off character, I'll change her! Are you a doctor NaomiP or are you just really clever?

* * *

_

"Night Tommy," Ray whispered he helped his sleepy son into bed and pulled the covers over him. Ray kissed Tommy lightly on the forehead and smiled when he turned over onto his side mumbling something about macaroni 'n cheese.

"Ray, are you going to come down eventually?" Neela called from downstairs, "The pasta's done."

"Yeah coming," Ray took one last look at his son and headed downstairs.

"Mmmm, pasta looks good," he said as he entered the kitchen, "And so do you." Ray walked over to Neela and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back and he started to lean her onto the counter.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Neela yelped as she felt Ray's fingers work their way under her shirt. "The food's gonna get cold!"

"Oh well, that's what the microwave was invented for," Ray grinned mischievously, nibbling her ear.

"And we have a son upstairs who will not be pleased to walk in on us," Neela argued.

"He's dead to the world," Ray replied.

"Oh fine, I give up," Neela submitted to him and pulled his t-shirt over his head.

"Great," Ray threw himself on her.

* * *

Tommy's eyes cracked open and he sat up wearily. He slithered out of bed and padded downstairs. He wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge to get some orange juice. Tommy drank straight out of the carton, turning round as he did and almost choking at the sight that met his eyes, juice sprayed everywhere. His mom and dad were sprawled on the couch, his dad was shirtless and his mom was tousle-haired. Tommy did not want to think about what they had been doing it made him feel queasy. At least they were decent he did not think he could've taken they had been naked.

Suddenly an idea struck him, a sort of pay back; he tiptoed out the back door. It was absolutely freezing outside and snow covered everything in a white blanket. He had bare feet and was only wearing his boxers and an overly large t-shirt but he didn't mind, this was gonna be worth it. Tommy picked his way along the path, through the garden and arrived at the old water tap. His dad and he sometimes had fights with it in the summer but in winter it would be icy cold, better than any of the stuff he could get inside which was bound to be lukewarm (which wouldn't work efficiently) because of the dodgy plumbing they had. He twisted the stiff tap handle, to check if it worked still, and eventually it moved, icy cold water gushed out. Right, now for the bucket, that would be in the shed. Tommy eased open the door, hoping that all the rubbish his dad hoarded in there, when he didn't know what to do with it, didn't swamp him. He spotted the bucket behind a broken wooden chair. Now to put his plan into action.

Neela snuffled quietly in her sleep, warm in Ray's arms. She shifted slightly and suddenly felt something very cold and wet splash all over her. She screamed as the water drenched her all over. Her eyes snapped open and she leapt off the couch, her t-shirt sticking to her skin. Ray did the same, his hair plastered to his head. They spotted Tommy eventually; he was rolling around on the floor behind the couch, laughing uncontrollably. Ray and Neela could not see the funniness, they were sopping from head to toe and Neela's teeth were starting to chatter. "Thomas George Barnett!" Ray started.

"What!" Tommy interrupted, "Its serves you right for doing _that _on the couch!" Neela blushed at her son's unwillingness to say the word. Then Tommy grinned cheekily, a grin identical to his father's. "You needed to get up anyway; your shifts start in less than an hour." Ray looked at his watch and saw that Tommy was correct.

"Damn! I need to have a shower," Ray dashed off to the bathroom. Neela remained where she was looking sheepishly at Tommy.

"Tom, look sorry, we didn't mean for you to catch us like that." Neela apologised.

"S'alright, I just wanted to tip water on you," Tommy grinned mischievously.

"Oh you little…" Neela began and lunged for Tommy, spraying water off her clothes onto the floor as she went. He dodged out of the way laughing and made for the door.

"Catch me if you can," he yelled to her.

"Oh that's too cliqued, you watch too much tv, in real life people don't say that!" Neela screamed at him, giving chase.

* * *

Ray stepped out of the shower, rubbing himself down with the towel. He was about to open the door when he heard a screech, he jumped. "Come back here!" He carefully opened the door and peeped out just as Tommy came flying past, Neela following, a soaking wet towel as her weapon. "Hi dad," Tommy just managed to say before Neela almost caught him, "Ah!"

"What the hell?" Ray stood gob smacked.

"I'll show you no mercy!" Neela called as both she and Tommy disappeared round the corner.

"Right," Ray raised an eyebrow, "Better get changed then."

* * *

By the time Ray had come downstairs Tommy was on the couch, cowering from Neela, she was tickling him. "I surrender!" he laughed.

"Where's the white flag then?" Neela giggled and then she noticed Ray, "Oh hey."

"You need to be at work in half an hour!" Ray sighed; annoyed with her messing around but slightly jealous that he had not been part of the fight.

"Right!" Neela disappeared upstairs.

"And as for you," Ray turned on Tommy who was still grinning from ear to ear, "What are you doing today?"

"The guys are coming over for a practice," Tommy said, rolling off the couch. He picked himself up and headed upstairs to change.

* * *

_Shorter chapter I know but I couldn't think of much more to say. Please review!_


	7. 390 to 765

_I can't write music so I'm sorry! That's why I haven't included lyrics!

* * *

_

"Okay, let's try it!" Dom grinned at Tommy, his song looked great, and then he checked to see if his guitar was in tune.

"So I come in when?" James asked looking at the music Tommy was holding out to him, confused.

"Here you dumb ass," Myles sighed at James pointing to a bar on the music.

"Ohh," James understood finally. He got himself ready by his keyboard, flexing his fingers. "Ready."

"About time," Myles teased, "People would think you didn't know anything about music."

"Oh I don't, I just pretend to know what I'm doing," James smirked.

"Ok, ok let's stop the arguing guys," Dom interrupted, thumping them both on the back. "We're here to play." The boys checked their instruments and then Tommy counted them in.

* * *

The sound of rock music issued out of the basement and into the otherwise empty house. Ray and Neela were working at County until eight so the band could be as loud as they wanted. Dom struck the final chord and cheered. "That song is awesome!" Tommy grinned, relieved that the song he and his dad had come up with was good.

"Yeah man, its great!" James and Myles agreed.

"Now all we have to do is perfect it and we could play for people," Dom added his eyes bright.

"You've got to be joking! We're not that good," Tommy said, laughing at his friend's idea.

"We could be, really," Dom said, "We could ask some people from school what they think! If they like it, we could try and get a gig and…."

"Dom!" Myles raised his eye brows and laughed. "I think you're getting _slightly _carried away."

"Just a bit," James shook his head. "But Tom, we could be good enough, in time and with you writing the songs."

"D'you think?" Tommy asked surprised. All the other boys nodded vigorously. "Well first we need to see what people think."

"Alright!" Dom grinned, "I'll ring a few people!" He put his guitar down and disappeared upstairs.

"What, now?" Tommy gaped, taken aback. "I'm not sure my parents will be too happy about lots of people coming over."

"They won't mind," James said, "God, I'm hungry, have you got any food?"

"Er…yeah I'll go get some." Tommy came out of the basement and looked for some stuff in the kitchen. _Can we really get somewhere with this band? _He thought as he got out some soda and snacks. _Maybe…

* * *

_

"Are you high Neela?" Morris asked staring as she stumbled into the lobby, laughing manically and covered in snow.

"Oh hi Morris, of course I'm not high, though I'm not too sure about him," she pointed behind her as Ray skidded through the double doors, a snowball in his hand and his eyes sparkling.

"Ah ha! I've got you now," he grabbed Neela round the waist and put the freezing cold snow down her neck.

"Eek!" Neela squealed.

"Ok I think you're both high," Morris made a face at them. Ray rolled his eyes and released Neela.

"No, we're just happy," Neela said. She spotted Kerry Weaver coming up behind Morris and smiled at her.

"Morris," Kerry said loudly in his ear.

"Ahhh!" Morris jumped, startled. Neela and Ray burst out laughing.

"Shouldn't you be with your patient in Exam 2?" Weaver asked him, smiling slightly.

"Er…yeah…um…right," Morris walked off.

"Hey Kerry," Neela grinned.

"Hi, shouldn't you be working too?" Weaver asked.

"Yeah, we were just gonna get changed," Ray said, beating a quick retreat.

* * *

"Man, for once I wish people would get sick, I'm soo bored," Ray flopped his head down on the admit desk and sighed.

"Well I don't, I'm glad for a peaceful day," Neela said walking past.

"No patients is not a good thing y'know, calm before the storm and everything," Pratt butted in.

The ER had been quiet all day, with only a few coughs and migraines coming in. The staff had nothing to do when those went and the board was almost completely cleared. Most had taken a break and were lounging around doing nothing. Pratt was the only one with a patient and that wasn't much, just a broken finger.

"Oh don't say that Greg, you've cursed us now, this is gonna be the busiest shift ever now." Neela said groaning. She sat down on a swivel chair and spun round to face a computer, "Might as well do something useful whilst I'm waiting."

"I thought you did all your paper work?" Ray said confused.

"I have, now shall I go on Tetris or Solitaire?" Neela laughed.

"I bet you can't beat my score on Tetris!" Ray grinned, scooting over to her.

"Bet I can, how much are we saying? Ten dollars?" Neela loaded the game.

"Hey man, haven't you learnt your lesson from when you played Neela last time? She kicked your butt," Pratt mocked him and Ray scowled.

"Yeah well I'd never played that game before, now Tetris I am the master at," Ray retorted.

"Ray, you can hardly be the _master_ of putting a few coloured blocks together," Neela sniggered, concentrating on the screen.

"Oh very funny, it's not that easy, you've gotta make sure they fit exactly," Ray whined.

"Ray, what did you say your score was again?" Neela asked, looking up from the screen.

"390," Ray answered.

"Oh you really do suck, hand the money over, 765 and the games not even over," Neela smirked.

"What!?"

"Told ya man, you are a loser!" Pratt teased and walked off to take care of his single patient who was just about ready to go home.

* * *

The end of Ray and Neela's shifts came and luckily Pratt's prediction had not come true. They headed home. Ray opened the front door and was greeted with silence. That was strange; he thought the band should be playing.

"Tommy?" he called. He didn't get an actual answer but the sound of running feet and the thumping from the old wooden stairs out of the basement told him Tommy was in. The boy skidded to a halt on the wooden floor in front of Ray, bright eyed and with a smile a mile long.

"What's up with you?" Ray asked.

"Dad, we got some people to come over and listen to our band and they thought it was awesome! We're gonna play at this gig!" Tommy beamed.

"Wow Tom that's great, but if you had people over and the band, where's all the noise?" Neela asked suspiciously.

"Oh the guys are cleaning up downstairs, it was a bit of a mess," Tommy said sheepishly.

"How much of a mess that it's actually keeping them this quiet?" Neela said making for the basement door.

"Er…you can't go down there Mom," Tommy blocked the door.

"What have you done?"

"Nothing, really!" Tommy replied. Suddenly feet thundered up the stairs and the rest of the band appeared. They were grinning.

" You can let them down now, we've cleaned it up," Dom whispered in his ear.

"Ok, you can go down now," Tommy told his parents.

"Well I guess there's not much point now you've got rid of the evidence," Ray laughed at their faces. "Want something to eat?" Ray turned and walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah I'm starving!" Myles butted in.

"How can you still be hungry? You ate pretty much all the food we own?!" Tommy gaped. Ray opened the fridge and saw it was empty. "Literally," Tommy added.


	8. Soccer Match

_Sorry it's been awhile but i couldn't seem to get my story on here.

* * *

"So where is this gig exactly?" Ray asked when the band had gone home. "And when?"_

"Er…this rich guy's party," Tommy said, "On Saturday night."

"Oh, who is he? And why would he want some kids playing at his party?" Ray queried.

"Dunno Dad, but we're just happy do have a gig," Tommy waved off his questions, "I'm going to bed, school tomorrow." Tommy walked up the stairs and entered his bedroom. He changed out of his jeans and t-shirt and pulled on his night stuff. He climbed into bed and fell asleep.

* * *

Ray and Neela sat downstairs discussing their son. "Do you really think he should be doing a gig at this age?" Ray asked.

"Ray!" Neela laughed incredulously, "You were bloody drinking at his age."

"And your point being…" Ray smirked, knowing he should be happy for his son. Neela punched him playfully on the arm.

"You are such a hypocrite!" Neela giggled.

"That I am!" Ray hit her with a cushion that was on the couch.

"Ow," Neela yelped, "Let's just support him and the band, shall we?"

"All right," Ray smiled, his mind now completely off the gig. All he could think about was the gorgeous woman who stood in front of him.

"No Ray!" Neela's eyes widened when she saw his expression. She'd seen it before. "Don't you dare!"

"Don't I dare what?" Ray smiled mischievously.

* * *

The sound of his mom and dad getting ready for work woke Tommy. He looked at his watch, it was six in the morning. _Time to get up._ He heaved himself out of bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. This was going to be a long week before the gig; he just couldn't wait. Pulling on some pants and a shirt, he stumbled downstairs. As he entered the kitchen, he saw his mom eating a piece of toast and his dad shovelling down cereal. He recognised the coloured flakes that were floating in the milk.

"Hey! They're mine!" Tommy exclaimed, grabbing the cereal box and glaring at Ray.

"Oh crap, you weren't supposed to be up yet," Ray grinned sheepishly.

"Dad, you ate pretty much all of it!" Tommy groaned.

"Sorry," Ray apologised, "They just taste so good!"

"More like they give you a sugar high," Neela sighed, "You're just one big kid, aren't you?"

"Yup," Ray smirked, finishing the last of his bowl. "We gotta go to work now Tom, so see you after school if the hospital isn't too busy."

"All right," Tommy pulled up a chair and poured the last of the cereal into his bowl. "But can you get me some more cereal since Dad ate it all?"

"Of course," Neela pulled on her coat, "Bye."

"See ya," Tommy said through a mouthful.

* * *

Tommy walked through the school gates and grinned at Dom who came to meet him. "I can't wait till Saturday! It's gonna be so cool!" Dom said excitedly.

"I know!" Tommy joined in his excitement, "I just hope they like us."

"They will, don't worry," Dom reassured him, "We better get inside, the bell just rang!"

"Oh right." The two boys sprinted for the school doors not wanting to get a detention. They ran down the corridor and skidded into their classroom just as the teacher was sitting down.

"Glad you could join us," Mr. Damson said sarcastically, "Any particular reason you were late?"

"Er…we just lost track of the time," Tommy said quickly, knowing the excuse was lame.

"Right, well maybe you should look at your watch in the future," Mr. Damson advised, "Now sit down." Dom and Tommy took their seats at the back of the class and kept their heads down for the rest of the lesson. Not wanting to give Mr. Damson another reason to get cross. The subject was mathematics and they were getting their tests back from a previous lesson.  
Tommy got handed his paper, a knot in his stomach to form, but he found he had just scraped an A. That was fine with him, as long as it wasn't another C. Dom had a B. "Great, that's a whole grade better than last months test," Dom grinned, "No retakes."

"Yeah," Tommy smiled. The bell went and they left to get to history class.

* * *

"Hurry up boys, by the time you get out of those changing rooms the match will be over!" Their coach yelled at them through the door. Tommy sighed and pulled up his blue soccer socks. It was their first match of the season. Dom cursed as he bounced on one foot trying to get his boot on.

"Why don't you just put your foot on the floor?" Tommy asked, amused by his antics.

"Cos…cos wait, you're right," Dom placed his foot down and slipped the boot on.

"You idiot," Tommy laughed, slapping him on the back and going out of the changing rooms onto the pitch. Dom followed him.

Once all the boys from the school team were assembled on the pitch the coach set them a warm up. They ran around the field several times and then did some stretches. "Ok, I want you to play your best, now get on the pitch." The coach ordered. They did as they were told and the opposing team did the same. The referee blew the whistle and the game began. The ball flew from player to player and then an opposing striker aimed for goal. Tommy groaned as their goal keeper missed it completely. "Goal!" the other team cried.

"One – Nil!" the ref shouted, "Take the ball to the middle." The game continued and neither team got even close to the goals. Tommy got a few touches on the ball, but nothing that he could turn into a run up the pitch. He was getting frustrated. Suddenly the ball came into his path from Dom. _Yes! Finally he could do something!_ Taking it into his control, he sprinted up the left side of the pitch. He dodged in and out of the defenders. They cursed as they missed. "GO TOMMY!" he heard Dom yell from behind him. He realised that he was on his own; there was no one to support him. Tommy passed the last defender; it was just him and the goalie. He chose the area he was about to shoot in and drew his foot back. He put all his force into the kick and his feet left the ground as he did so. Just as the ball left him, he felt a thump to his side. He was knocked flying, all his bones rattled with the impact. Tommy hit the floor hard and gasped. "FOUL!" he heard someone shout. His whole body ached. _Why the hell would someone tackle me after I kicked the ball?_ He thought. _Wait, did I actually score?_ Tommy looked up and smiled through the pain as he saw the ball in the back of the net. He sat up shakily and massaged his side.

"Are you ok?" Dom's anxious face swam into vision.

"Yup," Tommy nodded groggily, starting to get up.

"You sure?" Dom asked. Tommy managed to get to his feet but swayed a bit. Dom caught his arm. "You don't look good."

"Is he all right?" the referee and their coach arrived by them.

"I'm fine." Tommy said.

"I think you should go to the nurse," his coach said, concerned for once.

"No, I think I'll just come off," Tommy said, "I'll feel better soon."

"All right."  
By the time the match had finished it was two – one to Tommy's team, but he hadn't gone back on. The pain was too much. Tommy still refused to go to the nurse though and decided to head home.


	9. Bad Dream? Or Not?

_Hey hope you like it guys, sorry its a bit shorter but i got writers block._

* * *

Tommy tried the stairs, desperate for his bed, and winced as the pain in his side grew so much that he thought he was going to pass out. It felt like there were shards of glass embedded there. But he was determined to get upstairs; he didn't want his parents to make a fuss about him when they came back from their shift. That was the curse of living with doctors. If he could just get into bed then he could get to sleep and hopefully the pain would have subsided by the morning.  
Gritting his teeth he pulled himself up the first step, using the banister for support. Slowly and painfully, he managed to reach the landing and his bedroom. Lowering himself gently onto the bed, he pulled off his shirt and inspected his bare chest. There was a huge, ugly-looking, purple bruise swelling on his side. It did not look good. But Tommy decided it would probably go down by the time he woke up. Carefully not to brush the tender skin, he slid under the covers and fell asleep.

* * *

"What are you doing Barnett?" Abby raised an eyebrow, "Why are you beating up a kid?" Ray was wrestling with a small boy behind Curtain 2. His name was Louie Black and he was two years old. He had just put a rubber glove in his mouth and was trying to swallow it.

"No, stop it Louie, don't swallow the damn thing," Ray grunted, trying to prise his jaw open. "Ouch," Ray yelped as Louie bit down on his fingers. Abby struggled not to laugh at his antics and came over to help.

"You better hope he doesn't have rabies or something," Abby joked.

"Don't Lockhart, he's been giving me hell all day," Ray sighed as Abby managed to catch the boy by surprise and snatch the glove from his mouth.

"He's been here all day?" Abby asked, surprised. He looked pretty healthy to her.

"Yeah, came in this morning with a high temperature according to his mom, but then she just disappeared and left him here. There's nothing wrong with him. Unless you count the habit of putting things in his mouth," Ray glared at the Louie when he tried to bite him again, "That includes: rubber gloves, paper, stethoscopes, pens, Morris' keys, _and_ my fingers." Abby smiled at that.

"Where's my mommy?" Louie suddenly interrupted them, looking upset. His big brown eyes looked at them for the answer, his lip trembling. Ray and Abby exchanged a look, knowing it was very likely, under the circumstances, that his mom had just dumped him.

"Er…sweetie, I'm sure she's just gone to get a coffee," Abby reassured him quickly.

"Are you sure?" Louie asked.

"Um…" Abby looked at Ray for support, knowing she couldn't lie to Louie. Ray joined her by Louie and crouched down to be at his height.

Ray took a breath and said, looking the little boy in the eye, "Louie, your mom may not be coming back, we just don't know. But you just gotta hope, okay?" Louie's eyes welled as tears threatened to spill onto his cheeks. But he just nodded. "Good. Now will you stop with the teeth?" Louie nodded again, smiling cheekily. Ray ruffled his hair and asked Abby to keep an eye on him because it was the end of his shift.  
After meeting Neela at admit, Ray and she headed home. They opened the front door to the house and turned on the lights. "Tommy, are you still up? How was the match?" They got no answer.

"He must be in bed," Neela said, dumping her bag down in the hall, "I'll go check on him."

"All right," Ray nodded and walked into the lounge, throwing himself onto the couch and flicking on the tv. Neela climbed the stairs and slowly opened Tommy's bedroom door. She looked in and saw his outline sprawled across the bed. She padded over and stroked his soft hair; he looked so peaceful. Then she noticed the slight twist to the corner of his mouth and the crease from his eyes. It looked like he was in pain. _Maybe a bad dream_, Neela thought to herself and left the room.

* * *

Sunlight filtered through a crack in the curtains and Tommy blinked rapidly, trying to adjust his eyes to the light. He rubbed his face with one hand and then gasped as pain shot through his side. The throbbing hadn't stopped. He felt absolutely awful. Not just from the injury, but he felt exhausted and somewhat sick. He thumped his head on his pillow and wondered whether he would have to tell his parents now. Suddenly his door swung open and he almost jumped out of his skin. His dad's grinning face popped through, "Hey Tommy what ya doing? Isn't it a school day?" Ray strode over to his bed and plonked himself down. Tommy's eyes widened in pain and he bit his lip to stop himself from crying out in agony. Luckily his dad did not notice.

"Er…I don't feel so good Dad," Tommy said. Ray instantly looked concerned.

"Where? Is it just like a bug or something else? You gotta tell me if it is," Ray said his parent and doctor sides fighting for precedence. Tommy fought with himself about whether to let his dad fuss or tell the truth, but decided to tell him because he was feeling really terrible and did not want to have anymore pain.

"I think it's this," Tommy pulled the covers away from him and showed Ray his injury. Ray's eyes widened.

"God Tommy, when the hell did you do this?" Ray gently pressed on the wound, assessing what the damage was done and Tommy winced, "Your rib's broken!"

"It happened at the soccer match, bad tackle; I scored though," Tommy mumbled, "Is it really that bad?"

"Yes, I'll have to take you to County. Why didn't you tell us when it happened Tom? You must have been in agony." Ray couldn't believe Tommy didn't tell them.

"I didn't want you to worry," Tommy said feebly.

"Worry?!" Ray said incredulously, "We're taking you in now; our shifts start in half an hour anyway." Ray went to get up, "Can you get out of bed?" His son nodded weakly and pulled himself up, his face scrunched up in pain. Ray grabbed his arm and supported him.

* * *

By the time they reached the hospital Tommy wished he hadn't said anything. In between the ear bashing from his dad and the constant fuss from his mom, Tommy was quite desperate to escape the whole situation. They took the EL to the hospital and Tommy had been in pain all the way. They walked through the front doors and into admit. Ray went over and talked to a girl at the desk and then led Tommy over to Curtain 3. "Ok, now Tommy, I need you to take your shirt off so I can examine you properly," Ray said pulling on some gloves. Neela left them because she needed to see other patients.

"Dad, you already said what was wrong. Can't you just bandage me up?" Tommy sighed.

"Thomas, if you don't take your shirt off now, let me take a look and then go to x-ray; you won't get a bandage. Who knows what the extent of the damage is!? In the last few hours the broken bone could have punctured any of your vital organs. I need to check properly," Ray growled at his son. Tommy flinched at his father's tone and pulled his t-shirt over his head.

"There, happy now?" Tommy scowled and winced as Ray touched his side.

"No," Ray said but did not add anything else.

"See? It was no big deal," Tommy told Ray as he pulled his t-shirt over his newly bandaged chest. Ray said nothing. "Dad? Are you still mad at me for not telling you? Christ, it won't happen again."

"It better not," Ray muttered.

"I don't plan on hurting myself deliberately you know," Tommy retorted and stormed off. Ray watched him go and then went back to work.


	10. First Gig

_Saturday, yes, finally_, Tommy grinned as he rolled out of bed and then  
winced as he remembered his still healing ribs. That didn't dampen his  
spirits though because he was so excited. He looked at his clock; it was  
8:30am. Only ten hours and thirty minutes to go until the gig. Tommy walked  
out onto the landing and into the bathroom to take a shower.

After towelling himself dry and dressing, Tommy scampered down the stairs  
and went into the living room. He sat down on the couch and flicked on  
the tv. There wasn't much on: The Simpsons, Friends, and Scrubs, all episodes  
he had seen. He sighed and turned the tv off. The house was completely  
silent. His mom and dad were sleeping because they didn't have shifts until  
four in the afternoon and were trying to catch up on their sleep.

Tommy still hadn't made up with his dad. He didn't exactly know why they  
were fighting, but they still sat on either side of the dinner table not  
looking each other in the eye and resorting to the smallest amount of words  
as conversation. Tommy knew his mom was getting desperate, hating to be the  
in-between and not understanding why father and son were being so hostile toward  
one another when they had been getting on so well.

Hauling himself up, he decided to go into the basement and practice the few  
songs they were playing in the evening. Tommy picked up his guitar and  
strummed it slowly, relaxing himself so he could play well. He started with  
the first song called "Look Out For Me." This was the one he'd done with Ray  
on the night he'd gotten upset and Ollie had left. He wondered what Ollie was  
doing now, he hadn't seen him recently

._…Look out for me  
And then you'll see  
I'll look out for you._

Tommy sang the last lines of the song and smiled to himself. He couldn't  
wait for seven to come.

* * *

Ray looked up at the ceiling and sucked in a deep breath. Then he heard the  
sound of music floating upstairs. It was the song he had written with Tommy.  
He could hear Tommy's guitar striking the light notes and Tommy singing  
softly. Ray smiled and closed his eyes, the music lulling him back to sleep.

* * *

"Tommy!" Dom snapped, "Wake up, we have to be out there in two minutes and  
you're not thinking straight."

"But Dom, I'm really nervous," Tommy mumbled, his hands were shaking so much  
he didn't think he would be able to pick up his guitar let alone play it.

"Seriously Tommy, this is a bad time to get the cold feet," Myles groaned,  
understanding his friend's nerves but annoyed he was having them minutes  
before the gig.

"I know," Tommy drew in a deep breath and told himself to calm down. He  
nodded when he was under control and stepped out of the room they were  
practising in. "Let's do it." The band walked down the corridor and got to  
the dining room where they were supposed to be playing. They heard someone  
announcing their performance and then they stepped out onto the makeshift  
stage.

The rich guy they were playing for was called Jamie Moor and it was his  
sixteenth birthday. He had wanted someone famous to play at his party, but no  
one would come so he had to settle with Ricochet. He stood in the centre of  
the crowd of people laughing and dancing while they waited for the band to  
make an entrance. His lips were twisted in an unhappy expression as he  
looked apprehensively at the four boys coming in. Instantly, he thought it  
was going to be a disaster. They took their places and then, after nodding  
once, started playing. It was actually quite good. Jamie soon found himself  
dancing with all his friends.

Tommy grinned as he played, seeing all the people **enjoying themselves**. They were going  
down really well. People were actually enjoying their music. He spotted Dom  
grinning at him and smiled back. He was really happy.  
After the gig had finished, Tommy and the band were allowed to join in with  
the party. They **received** numerous compliments and Tommy was ecstatic. The band  
was getting somewhere.

"So Tommy, how about another gig?" Dom asked him as  
they helped themselves to sodas.

"Definitely," Tommy said, already excited at the prospect.

"Do you think your dad's band started like this? And then they got really  
good?" Dom questioned.

"I'm not sure, I think so," Tommy thought back to the night he and Ray had  
talked about his band but drew a blank as to how Ray's band started.

"Hey guys, what time do you have to get back? 'Cause my dad can give you a  
ride." Myles came up and stood beside them, taking Tommy's soda from his  
hand and swigging it.

"Er…around eleven," Dom said, "But we can go sooner if it means not having  
to walk home."

"Right, my dad'll be here in about twenty minutes so be ready with your  
stuff," Myles told them.

"Ok," the two boys went to get their guitars.

* * *

"So how'd the gig go Tommy?" Neela asked as soon as he stepped through the  
door. He jumped, expecting the house to be silent at this time of night.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Tommy queried, throwing his stuff on  
the couch.

"Yeah but I'm sick," Neela replied and as if to prove the point hurried into  
the bathroom to throw up in the toilet.

"Are you ok Mom?" Tommy shouted after her.

"Yeah," came the rather muffled reply. After a few minutes Neela emerged and  
sat down at the kitchen table.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Tommy asked anxiously.

"No, I wanna hear how the gig went," Neela said.

"Er…" Tommy sat down opposite her, "It went really well Mom, they loved us!"

"That's brilliant Tommy; your dad will be so pleased." Neela grinned.

"Yeah, and we have another two gigs next week," Tommy said, excitedly.

"Two?!"

"Yup, I can't wait. But now I really think you should go to bed," Tommy told  
his mom and stood up, giving her his arm for support.

"Yes, I think so too, but first I gotta hurl," Neela put her hand over her  
mouth and disappeared into the bathroom again.

* * *

Ray shocked the man again but he still had a flat line. Ray knew it was time  
to call it. "Time of death 10:37PM," Ray pulled off his gloves and threw them  
in the bin. He stepped out of trauma and took a deep breath. The man was  
called Paul Cull, 31 years old, husband and father of three. He had  
suffered massive internal bleeding which was what had killed him. They had  
fought for three hours to save him, but to no avail. Now Ray had to tell  
his wife.

"Mrs. Cull, I'm Dr. Barnett and I was treating your husband," he sat down  
beside her to break the news, "I'm sorry, we tried very hard to save him, but  
his injuries were too severe, and Paul died." Mrs. Cull gasped and fought  
to stop the tears that were about to fall. Her children were nearby and she  
had to be strong for them.

"Th…thank you doctor," Mrs. Cull managed to stammer, "For trying."

"Would you like to see him?" Ray asked.

"Yes please," she replied and stood up, ready to face the sight of her dead  
husband.

"This way," Ray gestured towards trauma. He wanted this shift to be over so  
badly, he wanted to be at home with Neela and Tommy. Only two more hours until  
that would happen.

* * *

_Sorry i couldn't work out how to change the format back from this after my beta reader changed it! R&R though please!_


	11. Alfie

"Hey sweetie," Ray climbed into bed next to Neela and stroked her soft black hair."Hmm," Neela mumbled half asleep.

"You still sick?" Ray asked.

"Nah, I'm feeling better now," Neela replied, "It was only for a bit."

"Ok," Ray worked himself into a comfortable position and closed his eyes.

"Tommy did his gig," Neela said, "It went really well, they've got another two."

"That's great," Ray smiled, "We have a rock star on our hands."

"Yes, but when are you two gonna make up?" Neela asked, "I don't get why you barely talk."

"I'll try Neela, but we are never around at the same time," Ray protested.

"You had better cos I'm fed up," Neela said and turned off the light.

* * *

"Mom, what's taking you so long? It's a school day and other people need to use the shower, you know!" Tommy yelled through the door, "Don't you need to be at work in fifteen minutes?"

"Oh shit!" Neela dried hereself down with a towel. Then she stepped out of the bathroom.

"Finally," Tommy pushed past her and locked the door. Ray was grabbing his jacket and bag when he spotted Neela coming down the stairs.

"We need to go Neela!" Ray opened the front door.

"I'm coming," Neela pulled her coat and followed Ray, "Keep your hair on."

* * *

Tommy sidled into class just as Mrs. Duson sat down behind her desk.

"Mr Barnett, glad you could join us," she raised her eye brow as he tried, unsuccessfully, to get to his desk without being noticed.

"Er…sorry Mrs. Duson," Tommy slid into his chair.

"Right, now class, we are going to do algebraic equations today," Mrs. Duson started writing questions on the board. Tommy groaned inwardly, what he wouldn't give for it to be the end of school.

Something hit the back of his head and he flinched. He turned round to see Dom grinning at him, Dom pointed to the balled up piece of paper on the floor. Tommy leant over and picked it up. He read it:  
_Hey Tommy__, we got a gig tomorrow and one on Thursday too. You alright to do them?_  
Tommy turned round and nodded at Dom. Dom smiled and mouthed, "Great."

* * *

"She keeps looking at you."

"What?!" Tommy frowned.

"That girl, she keeps looking at you," Dom replied.

"Who?"

"I think her name's Becky," Dom said, "She's kinda hot."

"Dom, she looks like a slut," Tommy sighed, wrinkling his nose at the sight of the girl waving her overly padded breasts about.

"Yeah but she's hot," Dom remarked.

"She's not, now will you stop trying to set me up?"

"Well you need a girlfriend if you're in a band," Dom said.

"No I don't, now can we get back to playing soccer?" Tommy asked impatiently."Alright, but if I was you…"

"You're not me," Tommy said bluntly.

* * *

Tommy grinned at Dom as they began to walk back to the changing rooms after their games lesson.

"What?" Dom asked puzzled at his expression.

"You're still staring at Becky," Tommy explained.

"I am not."

"Don't lie, you've been gawping at her all lesson," Tommy sniggered.

"Shut up Tom," Dom punched his friend on the arm.

"Make me," Tommy grinned and avoided another swipe from Dom.

"What are you gonna do now?"

"Go home, crash on the couch and watch tv," Tommy said.

"Oh, I'm go…gonna ask Becky out," Dom stammered.

"What? Now?" Tommy asked surprised.

"Yeah," Dom said uncertainly, he headed over to where Becky was chatting with friends.

"Um…hi," Dom said, looking at Becky, lost for words. Becky stared at him, looking slightly horror-struck that he was speaking to her.

"What do you want?"

"Er…n-nothing," Dom turned and fled, cheeks flushed crimson. He disappeared into the changing rooms and Tommy glared at Becky as she laughed with her friends. He turned to go into the changing rooms but stopped abruptly as he bumped into something solid.

"Ouch," a voice cried out. Tommy spotted a girl sprawled on the floor. She had blond hair and dark brown eyes that were very intense. She was dressed in a blue soccer shirt and tracksuit bottoms.

"Sorry!" Tommy apologised quickly and held out a hand to help her up. She took it and pulled herself up. Face to face, Tommy couldn't help not look into her eyes, they were so deep.

"S'alright," the girl smiled shyly.

"Are you hurt," Tommy asked.

"Nope, I'm pretty tough and a few bruises never hurt anyone," the girl grinned more now.

"Ok, I'm Tommy by the way," Tommy said he suddenly felt that he wanted to get to know this girl more.

"Alfie," Alfie replied.

"Isn't that a boy's name?"

"No, it's short for Alfreda, and don't laugh," Alfie said seeing Tommy's face, "My dad's English and he has a really weird taste in names."

"Oh, ok _Alfie," _Tommy fought not to laugh.

* * *

_Young love is brewing. R&R please._


	12. Tell me more

See you around Tommy," Alfie smiled and headed off in the direction of the girl's changing room.

"See ya," Tommy replied and went into the boy's changing room to see if he could cheer Dom up.

* * *

"So, while I was miserable in here, you were chatting up some girl," Dom groaned. 

"No, I was not chatting her up, I just bumped into her," Tommy defended himself.

"Is she nice?" Dom asked.

"Yes," Tommy said immediately, "I mean no, yes, not like that, well, maybe like that, I don't know…" Tommy trailed off as Dom burst out laughing, "What are you laughing at?"

"You, it's the first time a girl's ever got you tongue tied and she's not even here," Dom grinned, "She must be something if you are this taken."

"What?" Tommy yelped, "I'm…I'm not tongue tied!"

"You so are!" Dom smirked and shoved his soccer stuff into his bag, "Ask her out."

"I only just met her!" Tommy cried.

"Fine," Dom conceded, but knew this was not the last of this Alfie girl.

* * *

A couple of days later, Tommy was sitting outside with Dom and Myles eating lunch. 

"You gonna eat that?" Myles pointed at the sandwich in Tommy's hand.

"Nah, you can have it," Tommy tossed the sandwich over to Myles. Then he tucked his blueing hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt and shivered.

"It's freezing out here, I bet it'll be snowing by tonight," Dom moaned, teeth chattering. The other two boys nodded.

"I can't wait till tomorrow's gig," Myles said, "If it goes anything as well as last night's, then we'll be doing really well."

"Me too," Dom grinned and blew into his hands to warm them, "What about you Tom?" Dom turned and found his friend had disappeared. He looked around and spotted Tommy almost at the soccer field where a few girls were having a match. Tommy had stopped to watch.

"What's he doing?" Myles asked, confused.

"I think he went to see Alfie," Dom replied.

"Who's he?"

"She, Alfie's a girl he met on Monday," Dom filled Myles in; "Tommy likes her a lot."

"Tell me more," Myles leant closer to listen to Dom's ideas about Tommy's budding relationship.

* * *

Tommy stood watching as the players ran up and down the pitch. The ball was lost in a flurry of limbs as it was kicked over the grass. He was supporting the blue team, as that was the school team. One of the blue players intercepted the ball and darted up the field. She weaved and dodged around a few opposing green players and passed the ball to a teammate. This girl nudged the ball past a defender and crossed the ball back into the box to the other blue. This girl leapt into the air and headed the ball past the flailing goalie's hands and into the net. She landed lightly and whooped, giving a high five to the other player. Tommy had recognised her immediately; it was Alfie. The whistle blew a few seconds later and the players trooped off the pitch. Tommy walked nervously up to Alfie and smiled. 

"Hey Tommy," she grinned, her blonde hair flying loose from her ponytail and her eyes sparkling.

"Hi Alfie, I was watching you play, that was a really good goal," Tommy said.

"Thanks," Alfie smiled, "Any particular reason you're here? Cos it's bloody freezing!!!"

"Bloody?"

"Sorry, it's my dad, he rubs off on me," Alfie apologised.

"I know what you mean, my mom's English too," Tommy smiled.

"Really?" Alfie grinned, "That's weird. Uh…do you mind if I go get changed?"

"Oh yeah, sorry," Tommy said, then, plucking up his courage asked, "Are you doing anything after school?" Alfie paused for a moment, thinking.

"No," she said, "Why?"

"Um…would you like to go to the movies with me later?" Tommy asked nervously.

"What? Like on a date?"

"Yeah," Tommy wondered what her reaction would be.

"Yeah, sure," Alfie turned round and headed into the changing rooms, "I'll see you at the gates."

Amazed, Tommy watched her go, it was the first time he'd ever asked a girl out and she said yes! Tommy grinned to himself and started to jog back to his friends.

* * *

**Whoop! That's another chapter done! It's hard work! Thanks to my beta reader for the checks. But I won't write another chapter unless you review! Thanks!**


	13. Snowball Fight

"Something catch your eye?" Dom asked, smirking slightly.

"Something which you like a lot or should I say who you like a lot?" Myles joined in the mocking.

"No. Yes. Maybe, oh piss off," Tommy sighed.

"Can't make up his mind, can he?" Dom laughed.

"Shut up," Tommy groaned. James, the key board player from the band, suddenly appeared smiling.

"Hey man, what's up with you?" James asked looking at Tommy's disgruntled face.

"He just spoke to this girl who he really likes," Myles supplied, "And now we're taunting him."

"Ooh, can I join in?" James said.

"What the hell? You only just got here!" Tommy let his head fall into his hands and moaned. He was never going to hear the end of this.

"Yep, but I don't care. Isn't this like the first girl you've liked? Did you ask her out?" James questioned.

"You don't even know who she is!"

"Is she hot? 'Cause if you don't want her, I'll have her. Been kinda bored lately," James grinned as Tommy looked up suddenly, knowing he hit the right point.

"I asked her out, ok?" Tommy submitted.

"And…?"

"She said yes," Tommy told them.

"Wow, Tommo's got his first girlfriend. Sweet," Dom slapped him playfully on the back.

"Will you leave me alone now?" Tommy asked hopefully.

"Nah, it's too much fun," Myles grinned.

"Fine, I'm going," Tommy leapt up and sprinted away.

"Damn, I knew we should have covered all the escape routes," Dom sighed.

* * *

Tommy leant against the wall by the school gates and waited for Alfie to appear. He was worried that she was going to stand him up, however, his worries disappeared when he spotted her as she came out of the main doors. She smiled when she saw him and hurried her pace to reach him. 

"Yo Tommy," Alfie greeted him.

"Hey," Tommy grinned, "Ready to go to the movie?"

"Sure, what are we seeing?" Alfie queried as they headed off the school grounds and went to get the EL into the centre of Chicago.

"Er…I don't mind," Tommy shrugged, "What do you wanna see?"

"The Holiday," Alfie said, "I've wanted to see it for awhile now."

"Ok," Tommy nodded, not sure whether that was a movie he would have ever considered had he not been with Alfie.

* * *

"That was great," Alfie grinned as they came out of the movies. 

"Yeah," Tommy found himself agreeing with everything she said. The movie was all right, but not his type. He preferred the action, blood, and gore.

"What d'ya wanna do now?" Alfie clutched his arm as they walked out into the snowy street.

"Er…I know an ok café," Tommy said.

"Ok?" Alfie raised an eyebrow.

"An amazing café," Tommy corrected himself.

"Cool, let's go. I'm real hungry," Alfie said.

When they arrived at the café, there weren't many people eating. They ordered and were served quickly. They chatted over the food and ended up having an argument over which was better: the New York Yankees or the Chicago White Sox, that ended in a mini food fight involving peas and carrots. It stopped when the waiter kept shooting them evil glares for their out of control laughter and hysterics.

"The…White…Sox…are…way…the…best," Tommy panted.

"No way!" Alfie squealed as half the bowl of peas was knocked by Tommy's elbow into her lap, "You bloody idiot!"

"So..orry," Tommy giggled at her face and struggled to speak.

"So you should be," Alfie growled, "We're taking this outside, where I'll kick your butt."

"Whatever, you're half my size," Tommy scoffed.

"Ah, this is not a fight with your fists, this is a snowball fight," Alfie grinned, "Prepare to be hammered."

"You're on," Tommy gasped for air. They paid and stumbled out of the café and into the park. Each took up a position and made snowballs on the ground.

"There are no rules," Alfie stated, "Three…two….one…hey!" Alfie yelped as Tommy hurled a snowball hitting her on the head, "No fair, you started early! Cheat!"

"Get over it!" Tommy threw another ball and hit her on the arm, "You said there were no rules."

"Fine!" Alfie launched a large snowball at Tommy and caught him on the cheek. They continued the fight, resorting to dirty tricks to win.

"Ow," Alfie said from the ground where Tommy had thrown a massive ball at her and knocked her flying.

"Are you ok?" Tommy asked anxiously.

"Yeah!" Alfie suddenly leapt up and shoved snow down his neck, "Sucker!"

"Ah!" Tommy turned and pushed Alfie over into a large drift of snow, "Now who's the sucker?"

"Man, this snow's cold," Alfie shivered and laughed at the same time from her snow seat.

"Aw, do you want me to warm you up?" Without waiting for an answer Tommy slumped down in the snow with her and grinned.

"I'm not gonna get warm if you're that far away," Alfie giggled.

"Oh, want me closer, do you?" Tommy chuckled and snuggled up to Alfie.

"Yeah, you wish. No you're just my giant hot water bottle," Alfie said.

"Oh you're just saying that, in fact you like me being here," Tommy retorted. Alfie was silent for a moment and then, suddenly she kissed him full on the lips.

"Maybe I do," she smirked. Tommy was surprised that she had kissed him. His first ever kiss from a girl.

* * *

_What do you think? If you don't R&R i won't put up the next chapter._


	14. Mini Barnett

"Man, it's getting dark," Alfie whispered as they lay in the snow.

"Yeah, and I'm freezing my butt off here so maybe we should head back," Tommy agreed, his cheeks flushed red from the cold.

"My parents will be wondering where I've gone," Alfie said, reluctantly easing herself up from the snow and Tommy's warmth.

"Hmm, I dunno whether mine will, they're probably still on their shifts," Tommy said.

"Oh, what kinda shifts?" Alfie questioned curiously. In the time they'd spent in the snow, it had mostly been kissing and not much talking.

"They're doctors at County General," Tommy told her.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Alfie smiled, giving her hand to Tommy so she could pull him up from the snowy nest.

"Yeah, but they're out a lot," Tommy sighed and took the offered hand. Alfie hauled him up and they headed to the EL together.

By the time they reached their stop, Tommy and Alfie knew plenty about one another. Alfie knew Tommy was an only child, his parents were doctors, and that he was in a band. Tommy had invited her to the gig tomorrow night. He knew Alfie had two older brothers: age seventeen and nineteen, Oscar and Harley, her dad was a cop and her mom owned a shop selling fashionable clothing.

"She hates what I wear," Alfie told him, "She wants me to wear girly stuff with all the brand names, but all I like to wear are tracksuit pants and soccer shirts."

"You still look beautiful," Tommy grinned.

"Laying the compliments on a bit thick, don't ya think?" Alfie blushed.

"Nah, you do," Tommy retorted as they walked off the platform, "Well, are you ok to walk home from here?"

"Sure, where do you live anyway?"

"A couple of miles away but I'm gonna go to the hospital and see my mom and dad," Tommy replied, "I'll see you tomorrow at the gig, right?"

"Yup, see ya Tommy;" Alfie kissed him as she left, "It's been great."

Tommy watched her go and then, stuffing his icy hands in his pockets, crossed the street to get to the hospital. He walked through the ambulance bay and through the doors. He was going to wait for his parents and catch a ride home with them. Tommy realised as he entered admit that he wasn't sure when his parents' shifts finished. He hoped it was soon because he wanted to get home. He spotted Jerry and walked up to the admit desk.

"Hey," he said. Jerry looked up from fiddling with a busted computer and saw him.

"Oh hi Tommy. How're the ribs?"

"They're healing well, they don't hurt anymore," Tommy answered.

"What you doing here anyway?" Jerry questioned.

"Waiting for my parents," Tommy said, "D'ya know when they'll be off?"

"Er…your mom's off in five, but Ray's got awhile," Jerry supplied.

"Ok, I'll wait for her," Tommy said, looking round for a seat.

"You can come round here if you want. Are you any good with computers?" Jerry gestured to the computer, "This one's crap, it won't load up and if it does it freezes." Tommy came behind the desk and looked at the machine.

"I'll try and fix it if you want? I'm pretty good," Tommy started clicking the mouse and then moved to the keyboard. Quickly he pulled open the back of the machine and fiddled with the insides, "Do you have a screw driver?"

"Yeah, here," Jerry handed the tool to Tommy and watched him work. After a few minutes, Tommy grinned, put the back on the computer and switched it on.

"Voila!" Tommy said.

"Wow, how'd you do that?" Jerry asked impressed.

"I dunno. It's simple, I just do it," Tommy smiled.

"Hey mini Barnett, what are you doing here?" Morris came up behind them, "Hope you ain't got another emergency."

"No, I'm waiting for my mom," Tommy replied.

"Oh," Morris nodded and then spotted the computer, "Hey, who fixed the computer? I thought we were gonna have to pay someone to do that."

"You can pay me if you want," Tommy grinned, holding out his hand to Morris.

"You fixed it?" Morris said amazed.

"Yep," Tommy said, "You gonna pay me or not?"

"Not," Morris smirked and disappeared off with a patient.

"Didn't think so but it was worth a try," Tommy shrugged and then spotted his mom coming out of the doctor's lounge.

"Tommy," Neela raised an eyebrow, "I'm guessing you want a ride?"

"Yup," Tommy nodded, "I've waited long enough."

"Cheek," Neela scolded but led Tommy out to their car.


	15. Greenday

"So Tommy, why were you around here anyway? Why didn't you just go home after school?" Neela asked, puzzled.

"Er…I went to the movies," Tommy replied, wondering what his mom would say about his new girlfriend.

"Who with?" Neela asked intrigued when she saw Tommy's cheeks flush red.

"Alfie," Tommy said.

"Who's he then?" Neela probed.

"She," Tommy mumbled.

"She?!" Neela gasped, "You were with a girl."

"Yes Mom. Christ, you don't have to make such a big thing of it. She's _just_ my girlfriend," Tommy scowled.

"Aw, my lickle boy's growing up. Your first date," Neela grinned.

"Mom," Tommy groaned.

"When do I get to meet her?" Neela questioned, enjoying seeing her son squirm in the passenger seat of the car."Tomorrow," Tommy replied suddenly.

"Tomorrow?" Neela repeated surprised.

"Yeah, she's coming to the gig," Tommy smiled.

"Oh, well then I guess I'll meet her then," Neela said, turning the car into their drive.

* * *

Tommy had gone to bed around nine whilst Neela sat downstairs working through a mountain of paperwork. She grumbled as she worked. At about eleven, when her head was drooping into her arms, the front door opened. Ray tiptoed in and dropped his stuff on the floor in a big mess. It was snowy outside and his shoes were filthy, but he couldn't be bothered to take them off. He spotted Neela asleep on the table and smiled, he headed over to her.

"If you don't take those shoes off now, I'll kill you. And you can clean up the dirty foot prints too," Neela spoke without even lifting her head and Ray was so startled he jumped into the air.

"Shit Neela, you scared me half to death," Ray slipped his shoes off and shoved them by the door.

"That was the point," Neela lifted her head up and grinned cheekily at Ray, her dark brown eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Man, when I finish mopping this up, you are _so_ in for it!" Ray grumbled.

"Oh, what ya gonna do?" Neela asked curiously.

"This!" Ray dropped the mop and leapt at Neela. He started tickling her and she screamed.

"Ah, stop!" Neela cried, "Mercy!"

"No mercy," Ray grinned impishly and continued tickling Neela's writhing body. Neela had tears of laughter streaming down her face by the time Ray stopped.

"You are bloody evil!" Neela panted.

"Why thank you," Ray laughed. Neela lifted herself off the floor and sat back down at the table.

"Enjoying your paperwork?" Ray asked, helping himself to a bread roll.

"I've had more fun counting my feet," Neela said sarcastically.

"Oh that is fun, once I got to over a thousand," Ray smirked.

"What?" Neela asked confused.

"Counting feet," Ray chuckled.

"Oh, you're _so_ funny," Neela rolled her eyes.

"I like to think so," Ray replied amused.

"Gimme a roll, will you?" Neela asked as Ray went to take another. He chucked one to her and grinned.

"Now," Ray sat down, "Why was Tommy at County earlier?"

"Oh," Neela smiled, "He needed a lift cos he'd been to the movies."

"With who?"

"His girlfriend," Neela giggled at Ray's reaction. He was drinking some orange juice and spluttered, getting liquid all down his chin.

"Girlfriend?" Ray gaped, "Our Tommy finally has one?"

"Yep, her name's Alfie and we get to meet her tomorrow," Neela nodded.

"Ooh, he must be keen if he's already letting her meet us," Ray said, "When I had my girlfriends, I never brought them home, too many problems, plus then they would know where I lived so they could egg it when I dumped them." Ray shuddered.

"Well let's be glad he's not like you then," Neela sniggered.

"Hey!" Ray yelped.

* * *

Tommy did not know when but he and his dad seemed to be on speaking terms again. His dad had come into his room earlier and asked if he wanted help practising for the gig. Tommy had said yes and Ray had got his guitar down out of the attic. They played together for a couple of hours, Ray correcting Tommy whenever he went wrong - which did get quite irritating after awhile.

Now Tommy was all dressed up for the gig in baggy jeans and a t-shirt, with his hair gelled up into spikes. He was waiting for Alfie to arrive.The doorbell rang and Tommy leapt up. He hurried to the door and froze when he saw Alfie. She looked gorgeous. It wasn't like she was really dressed up, but what she was wearing was certainly different from normal. She was wearing slim denim jeans and a pink top with a brown jacket over it. Her hair was flowing past her shoulders and Tommy was sure she was wearing make up.

"Hi Tommy," she smiled nervously, "I know I look like really different, but my mom chose it."

"You look…beautiful," Tommy said and Alfie blushed scarlet.

"Hey Tommy, instead of just standing there, why don't you let the poor girl in out of the cold so she can warm up before you go to the gig?" Neela yelled from the kitchen.

"Oh right. Sorry. Come in," Tommy gestured for her to come in and closed the door behind her. In the kitchen, Tommy was worried what his parents' reaction would be.

To his surprise, they were really cool about it. He wondered whether they had rehearsed what they were going to say before hand. His mom asked Alfie a few questions about her family and Ray asked about her music tastes. By the time seven came, Ray and Alfie were deep in conversation about Greenday.  
"Dad, we gotta go," Tommy insisted.

"Oh right," Ray looked at his watch, "Good luck then."

_Lucky for you i'm over excited cos now you're getting THREE chapters at once. Lucky sods!_


	16. Back Alley

_Ok, as you may of noticed the rating has changed on my story but that's only for the language. This chapters quite gory so keep your food down. Dona i liked the Oliver Twist joke, i did actually laugh, surprisingly!_

When they arrived at the place they were performing it was pretty crowded and they had to struggle to get to the room out back where they would put their stuff. Tommy opened the door and saw all the band sprawled across a couch talking.

"Hey Tommy," Dom smiled.

"Yo," Myles raised a hand in greeting.

"Ooh, who's the hot chick?" James asked spying Alfie hovering shyly behind Tommy.

"Her name's Alfie and she's my girlfriend," Tommy looked pointedly at James.

"Ok I get the picture," James nodded hastily, "Anyway, are you ready to play?"

"Sure," Tommy nodded and got his guitar out, "Let's go." The band members' confidence had grown since the first gig and now were not afraid of stepping onto stage, as much.

* * *

After the performance the guys went to find Alfie in the crowd of people by the stage. They found her eventually; she was grinning from ear to ear and hugged Tommy as he came up.

"That was awesome!" she shouted over the next band's music.

"Thanks."

"Hey, how come we don't get hugs?" James asked, pouting.  
"Aw, come here," Alfie grabbed him and squeezed him in a tight hug.

"Ok, ok," James wheezed, "You're crushing my lungs!" Alfie let go and grinned evilly.

"Anyone else?" she questioned. Dom and Myles shook their heads.

"Do you wanna drink?" Tommy asked heading to the bar, "Bearing in mind, I can only get soda or juice."

"Coke please," Alfie said.

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Coke, if you're buying," Myles grinned.

"Er, yeah, thanks Myles," Tommy headed over to the bar to get the drinks.

* * *

Some time later, Tommy really needed to use the restroom because he had five cokes, however there was a huge queue to the toilet. "Damn," he groaned, "Guess I could go outside to pee." He didn't bother telling the others he was going out the back and went through the door into a back alley.

Tommy felt uneasy as he peed; the street was dark seeing as it was only lit by a dim orange glow from a single lamp post and was deserted. It smelt bad too; _probably lots of other people had been desperate and had the same idea._ Tommy did up his trousers and was about to go inside when he heard the door slam from behind him. He was facing the opposite wall so he did not know who it was, but felt a bit of trepidation. He heard footsteps and turned around just as something hit his cheek. He felt the bone crack and yelled out in pain. Then another punch landed on his chest, then his stomach, then his groin. He doubled over but looked up to see who his attacker was and got a fist full in his face. His nose broke and blood poured out. Still he could not see who was assaulting him. Tommy's already delicate ribs snapped as more kicks and punches were thrown. He fell to the floor grazing the side of his head on the wall as he went down. He looked up through a blur of pain and made out a figure looming over him. Suddenly he recognised the face; it was Ollie.

"You said the band wasn't going anywhere," he spat, "You fucking liar!" Ollie brought his foot down on Tommy's hand and crushed it. Tommy cried out in agony.

"Now look at you shits, playing at clubs and parties," Ollie roared, "You just wanted me out of the band, didn't you? Cos I'm not as well off as the rest of you! It's because I live in a foster home, isn't it?!" Ollie brought something out of his pocket. It glinted in the orange light.

"I'm sick of you guys thinking you're better than me! Now you'll learn."

Tommy did not possess the strength to protest even though he knew what the object was. He simply had no power left in him to stop it. Ollie brought the knife down to Tommy's level and stabbed him in the stomach. Then as Tommy's body convulsed from the impact, he pulled the blade back out and thrust it in again. Blood dribbled from the corner of Tommy's mouth. Ollie took the blade out again and then ran off, leaving Tommy in a pool of his own blood.

_Cliffhangers-don't you just love 'em...R&R you know you want to!_


	17. An Hour

It felt like a fire was spreading all over his insides from the stab wound. The pain was unbearable, Tommy just wanted it to end. He knew no one could hear his feeble shouts echoing down the empty alley, the music blasting inside was too loud. It was ironic that music would actually be his killer considering it was what Tommy lived for.

He ached all over, his stomach, his hand, his nose, his cheek, and his head were all throbbing painfully. How could Ollie do this to him? He didn't know Ollie had felt that strongly about leaving the band. The floor was cold under Tommy's cheek and his whole body shook as snow began to fall from the sky. It was slow at first but then fell heavier. Tommy was not very aware of it because of his loss of blood, but he knew that it was likely that he would just be covered by a blanket of snow and not be found till morning. By which time he'd definitely be dead. He needed to move, get attention somehow, but there was no strength left in his aching bones. Tommy's body shook again and he felt all his bones rattle. Taking one arm away from where he was clutching his wound Tommy reached forward and pulled himself a few inches towards the door.

* * *

Alfie danced a bit with James, but soon got bored of him looking her up and down over and over. Christ, had these boys never been with girls? She wanted to find Tommy, but she hadn't seen him for the last hour. She hoped he hadn't headed home already.

"Hey Dom, have you seen Tommy?" Alfie asked as Dom came back with more drinks.

"Nope," Dom shook his head, "I haven't seen him in around an hour."

"Me neither," Alfie was getting worried, Tommy would not have just gone without telling any of them. Dom looked anxious too.

"Should I go look for him in the restroom?" Dom asked.

"Yeah," Alfie bit her lip; it was what she did when she was worried. Dom disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

"Um, have you seen the lead singer of the band Ricochet? Brown hair and green eyes? Wearing jeans and a red t-shirt?" Dom asked a fifth person by the restroom. The man shook his head.

"No, sorry." Dom was getting ready to give up, maybe Tommy had just gone home, but then a young man walked up to him.

"Er…you the guy that's looking for someone?"

"Yes," Dom nodded hopefully.

"Well, I did see this kid go outside into the back alley about an hour ago. I haven't seen him since."

"Thanks!" Dom grinned and ran to the back door. He turned the handle.

* * *

Tommy had maneuvered himself about a metre, it had taken all his energy and he could move no longer. He let his heavy head drop on the ground. The snow was freezing, but to Tommy's numb body, it was warm and comforting. His eyes closed and he slipped into unconsciousness.

_R&R you know you want to know if he's alright. If you don't review i'll just kill him :)_

_Only joking i'm not that evil! but still review or i might rethink!_


	18. Christmas Party

_Ooh sorry for being evil but i couldn't help keeping you in suspense

* * *

"Hey, Barnett," Morris thumped Ray on the back grinning._

"Hit me again Morris and you'll be spending the next two weeks in a hospital," Ray said bluntly. Morris hastily moved out of Ray's reaching distance but was still grinning.

"What the hell is up with you?" Ray raised an eyebrow suspiciously at Morris.

"Are you coming to the Christmas party tonight?" Morris asked.

"Oh crap, I forgot about that," Ray paused, "Yeah, should be."

"And Neela?" Morris asked.

"Probably, I'll ask her," Ray nodded and headed off to find his wife.

He found her in Exam Three talking to a woman. The woman was smiling at Neela and nodding vigorously. Neela said something and then walked towards the door. She opened it and let out a small gasp as Ray whispered "Boo!" in her ear.

"Ray!" Neela slapped him on the arm.

"Hey, hey cool it," Ray grinned.

"What do you want?"

"I was wondering whether you were going to the Christmas party."

"Oh, yeah, if I finish in time," Neela nodded and headed to drop off her chart at the desk, "But what about Tommy?"

"I'm sure he'll be able to get a lift, he's old enough to look after himself," Ray assured her.

"Right," Neela smiled, "Well I better move fast or I'll never finish all my charts." Neela shoved Ray out the way as she went to see a patient.

"Thanks a lot Neela," Ray stuck his tongue out at her and then went to retrieve a chart.

* * *

Ollie breathed hard; he had been running through the back alleys of Chicago for ages. He didn't want to stop. He had to get as far away as possible from what he'd done. He didn't know why he did it; his temper had just got out of hand. 

Out of hand? Out of fucking hand?! _You idiot, you knew he was there! You took the knife and followed him outside! You knew exactly what you wanted to do! _

Ollie fought with himself inside his head and did not see the pipe in his way. His foot caught it and he was sent flying. He landed face first and grazed his chin on the ground. Ollie sat up and leaned against the damp wall. He began to cry, tears tumbling down his cheeks. He stayed there, in the snow, never wanting to leave.

* * *

_The kid is REALLY messed up. Whoop i'll get to Tommy soon but i luv being in control!_


	19. Pink Tops and Make Up

Dom pulled open the door and gasped as a gush of freezing cold air mixed with snow hit his face, "Shit, it's cold out here," he shivered. He stepped out into the alley and looked around. It looked white almost everywhere, but it looked as if no one was here. _Tommy must have gone home_, Dom reasoned. Then he saw something that made his blood run cold: a leg. It was sticking out from beneath a snow heap. The jeans looked all too familiar.

"TOMMY!" Dom yelped and hurried over. He pulled off the icy snow with his bare hands until they were freezing. He uncovered Tommy's legs, his red t-shirt, and his head. His lips and arms had turned blue.

"How long have you been out here?" Dom cried.

He got no answer, though it was no surprise. It was at that moment, when he turned Tommy over, that he realised this had just gotten even more serious. The blood was still trickling from the wounds in Tommy's stomach and Dom realised this was probably the only warm bit of his body left and it was being lost on the pavement.

"Who did this to you, Tommy?" Dom desperately tried to get an answer but it was useless. Tommy's badly bruised and swollen face would probably not have allowed him to speak even if he had been conscious. "Ok, I'm gonna get help," Dom cursed himself, realising too late that this is what he should've done straight off. He quickly pulled off his jacket and covered Tommy's top half with it.

Running inside, he wasn't even certain if Tommy was still alive because he could not perform any medical procedures, but he knew that if his friend was to survive, he needed help, and fast."Hey, Dom. Find Tommy yet?" Alfie asked coming over to him.

"Oh my god, Alfie, yes," Dom cried. Archie instantly looked concerned.

"Tommy's outside! He got stabbed!" Alfie gasped at this.

"Why the hell did you leave him outside in the snow?" Alfie ran towards the back door, she turned back and yelled, "Call an ambulance!"

Scurrying towards Tommy, Alfie stifled a scream as she saw the state he was in. She skidded on her knees beside him. His wrist was cold but Alfie could feel a faint pulse. Ignoring Tommy's facial wounds, Alfie pulled off the jacket and found the stab wounds. She remembered vaguely what to do from health class in school and tried to stop the bleeding by putting pressure on it. Instantly her hands were covered in warm, sticky blood.

* * *

Dom arrived beside her seven awful minutes later with the paramedics. The two men moved Alfie away from Tommy and told her to go inside and get warm because they would look after him. They worked efficiently and soon had Tommy in the back of their rig.

"Any of you kids gonna come with him?" one of the guys asked; his name was Brian.

"Er…Alfie you can go, I'll go talk to the others," Dom said, still shocked.

"Thanks Dom," Alfie jumped into the ambulance and Brian closed the doors.Tommy crashed in the rig about three minutes later and Brian had a hard time getting him back.

"Come on, fight man," he quickly injected a drug into Tommy. Alfie sat watching, tears starting to well in her scared brown eyes.

"Is he gonna be ok?" she asked.

"I dunno, we need to get him to County soon though." Brian swore as blood splashed him from the wound.

"How long till we get there?"

"About two minutes," Zadro called from the front.

"Two minutes might be too late," Brian muttered, grimacing at the beaten body before him.

* * *

Neela laughed at Ray, "I think pink really suits you. You should wear it more often!"

"You think?" Ray looked down at the tight pink girl's top he was wearing, "I really shouldn't have agreed to do dares, should I?" He looked around at the grinning faces of his colleagues and shook his head. They were sitting in a bar for their Christmas party. Not many were drinking because they still could get called into the hospital but that didn't stop them having some fun.

"I still can't get over you in pink, Barnett," Morris sniggered.

"Watch it!" Ray scowled.

"Hey, you guys. This is supposed to be fun," Abby laughed, "Who's next? Luka?"

"Yeah! Let's get Luka in a tutu!" Ray said cheekily.

"I'd like to see you try," Luka smirked and drank his coke.

"Sorry, don't have any tutus in stock," Sam laughed, "But I do have this!" She brandished a bag of make up.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Luka yelped.

"YES!" Ray whooped, "Me and Morris, actually on second thought, me and Abby can hold him down, while Sam, Neela, and Chuny can do the honours!""No!" Luka groaned, "I'm still on-call you know. I could have to go in at any minute and what would my patients think if I turned up covered in make up."

"That you have a feminine side to you?" Abby suggested.

"That you're a drag queen in secret?" Ray grinned.

"Oh help!" Luka cried as all his colleagues piled on top of him.

* * *

_R&R please!_


	20. Tommy Barnett

Zadro and Brian burst through the double doors and Pratt came running up to help.

"Whatd'ya got?" Pratt queried. Brian reeled off Tommy's stats.

"Where is everyone?" Zadro asked looking around the almost empty ER.

"Christmas party, Weaver was in a good mood and let them go. It's just me and Gates here. Weaver went somewhere, have no idea where though," Pratt supplied as they hurried into Trauma One.

"Ok, Haleh…" Pratt gave out instructions while also surveying Tommy's stab wounds. They were severe.

"Hang in there, Tommy," Pratt said to the kid. He looked at his other injuries. Tommy had a broken cheek bone, broken nose, and all his fingers were snapped on his right hand. "Damn, he's taken one hell of a beating."

"Do we know where his parents are?" Tony Gates asked coming over. Neither of them recognised Tommy under all his bruises.

"No, he came in with this girl," Pratt said, still working on Tommy.

"Ok, I'll go talk to her," Gates nodded and headed out.

"Wait, Gates!" Pratt yelled, "He's flat lining!" Tony spun round and went to help.

* * *

Alfie watched through the glass as the two doctors worked on Tommy, she'd refused being ushered into a family room. She bit her lip as a machine by Tommy's side started beeping and the doctors leapt into action. She winced as Gates started to do compressions on his chest. Eventually the machine stopped beeping frantically and one of the doctor's, Pratt, intubated Tommy. Alfie looked away as the tube slid down his throat and sat down on a chair.

A couple of minutes later, Gates walked out after Tommy was stabilized. He sat down next to Alfie.

"Hello…"

"Alfie," Alfie supplied.

"Hello Alfie, you came in with Tommy, right?" Gates asked, "Do you know where his parents are or their numbers?" Alfie shook her head.

"Ok, do you know his last name?"

"Barnett," Alfie said. Gates did a double take. He hoped it didn't mean what he thought it meant.

"Tommy Barnett?" Gates said.

"Yes," Alfie nodded, "His parents are Ray and Neela."

"Shit!" Gates yelped, "I didn't recognise him. I have to go get them!"

Gates called to Haleh and told her to page Ray and Neela because they needed to come in straight away.

* * *

Luka looked in the mirror Sam held before him and sighed, "You really did go over the top, didn't you?"

"Of course," Ray grinned, "It's not that often we get to put lip stick and mascara on you!"

"I think you look cute," Abby laughed.

"What? As in transsexual cute?" Ray asked and received a sharp kick from Abby in the shin, "Ow." He glared at her. Suddenly a beeper went off. All the doctors looked at their beepers in unison.

"Oh, it's mine," Ray jumped up from his seat as he looked at the beeper, "Some emergency down in the ER."

"And mine," Neela frowned, "But our shifts have finished, shouldn't they be paging Luka?"

"Oh please, no!" Luka groaned trying desperately to rub the make up off.

"Hey, come here," Abby dabbed at his face with a tissue.

"The three of us can all go in," Ray decided, "They must have asked us to come in for a reason."Once Luka removed most of the make up, even though his eyelashes were still somewhat thick from the mascara, the three doctors headed back to the ER.

* * *

_R&R please or I'll stop :(_


	21. Bruised

_Sorry its taken awhile to update but its hard!!!_

* * *

"I think you look gorgeous, Luka," Ray sniggered as they entered the ambulance bay.

"Careful, Barnett," Luka growled, then he turned to Neela, "Please tell me it's not that obvious."

"Trust me, it's not. Ray's just making a big thing out of it to annoy you. That's what he lives for," Neela punched Ray on the arm.

"Ouch," Ray moaned, "You may be small but you hit hard."

"Oh my god, you're here!" a small, slim figure ran up to them. Ray recognised Alfie as she passed under a light. He was worried.

"What's wrong, Alfie?" Neela asked, getting an ominous knot in her stomach.

"It's Tommy!" Alfie was almost in tears. The three doctors were shocked.

"What's happened?" Neela questioned starting to run towards the ER.

"He's been stabbed." Neela's heart almost stopped beating at that moment and Ray's step faltered.

"Stabbed?" Luka asked, "By whom?"

"I dunno, Dom just found him outside the gig," Alfie said.

They all came into the ER and headed for Trauma. Just at that moment, a gurney skidded out of the Trauma room pushed by Pratt and Gates.

"What's happening?" Ray asked quickly, swallowing a lump forming in his throat at the sight of Tommy's face.

"We have to take him up to the OR, he's got severe bleeding," Pratt informed them.

"Oh, right," Ray didn't know what to say. Seeing his son's bruised features had knocked him from his usual cocky stance. He watched as Pratt wheeled the gurney into the elevator.

"Ray, he'll be all right," Luka placed a hand on his friend's shoulder reassuringly.

* * *

"I came as soon as I heard," Abby slipped into a chair next to Neela, "How's he doing?" 

"We don't know anything," Ray slammed his fist on the wall where he was standing, in frustration.

"He'll be all right, Ray," Abby said.

"You don't know that, Abby," Ray punched the wall again."Maybe you should sit down," Abby stood up and led Ray to a seat.

Ray slumped down and rested his head in his hands. He couldn't take this. He couldn't lose his son. Tommy meant so much to him; he was the thing that joined Neela and him together. He had both Ray and Neela as a part of him yet was so unique. They couldn't lose him.

"Hey, look what you've done to your hands, Ray," Neela inspected his bruised knuckles, "That's not gonna help, is it?" Ray didn't reply.

Suddenly the door of the OR opened and Dr. Dubenko came out. His face revealed nothing of the outcome of the operation. Ray jumped up and looked expectantly at the surgeon.

"The surgery went well," Dubenko told them, "We managed to fix the bleed. It's still touch and go though."

Neela breathed out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

"But you've repaired the damage and he has a chance to recover?" Neela asked.

"Yes," Dubenko nodded.

* * *

Ray stared down at Tommy's battered facial features: the ugly purple swelling on his cheek where it was broken, the crooked angle of his nose, his black eye, and the numerous other bruises and cuts scattered across his face. Ray could not see his other injuries as they were hidden beneath the bed covers. 

Tommy was laying unconscious in a hospital bed in the ICU. Drips and lines were attached all over his body to pump the fluids in and out of his weak body. A machine beeped steadily by his side and Ray focused on that rather than his son's injuries. It told him his son was still alive despite all he had been through.

_I'll kill whoever did this to Tommy._ Ray thought to himself, anger growing but then it dissipated realising how irrational that was. _No, I won't. I just want that person to be caught. I just want Tommy to get better._

_

* * *

R&R please, I will love you forever if you do!!!_


	22. Shattered

Ok, sorry guys for taking quite awhile to update. This chapter is pretty short but i think(hope) its more effective this way. I just watched the first episode of the 13th series!! cos i'm from england and it only came out on thursday. which sucks!! it was sooo cool!!! can't wait till next thursday but that means i have to go back to school :(

Anyway, hope you like this chapter i'll try and update soon. Enjoy!!!

* * *

Ray watched Neela sleep in the uncomfortable plastic chair. She was in a very strange position. Her knees were drawn up into her body like a fetus and her head lolled over the back of the seat. She was going to have a really bad crick when she awoke. But Ray didn't want to wake her. She hadn't slept in days and he wasn't about to deprive her of the slightest rest she could gain. She had refused to go home and kept a constant vigil by Tommy's bedside since he'd come out of the OR. Ray had told her to go have a good sleep many times and she had ignored him. He wasn't any different; he didn't want to leave either. Abby, Luka, and a few others had been up to check on them, but had to leave early because they were down two doctors and the ER was overflowing.  
Ray shifted in his own chair, feeling his back going numb. He stood up and walked to the restroom. Splashing his face with cool water, Ray refreshed his tired body somewhat. Blinking rapidly, he dried his face with a paper towel and looked in the mirror; he looked terrible. That was what a five day sleep deprivation did to you. Black shadows circled his eyes and had lost their cheeky sparkle.  
Going back into the hospital room and seeing Tommy in the bed and Neela sleeping beside him gave Ray a feeling of déjà vu. He walked over to the bed and touched his son's hand. He remembered back around fourteen years ago.

**Flashback  
**  
Small fingers curled weakly around his own as the tiny baby lay in the incubator. Wires snaked in to keep the baby's heart beating and lungs inflating. Ray felt a solitary tear fall down his cheek as the baby released his finger. He was so little and so ill, he was eleven weeks early. Ray desperately wanted to hold him but couldn't. It was torture. Especially for Neela, who was sitting in a wheelchair watching her son fight for his life. Tommy had been born by caesarean five hours earlier and this was the first time she'd seen him.

"Will…will he," Neela paused, her breath catching in her throat, "Be alright, Ray?"

Ray didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell her Tommy would live, nobody could. It was up to their son to decide his future. He was torn between telling the truth and comforting his wife.

"He'll be alright," Ray finally decided on the latter option. Neela needed comfort after all she was going through. Neela nodded, but did not seem convinced.

"He's so…small," Neela whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

"Yes, but you're not that big, are you?" Ray smiled trying to cheer her up.

"No," Neela chuckled through her tears that spilled down her cheeks.

"Hopefully he'll grow to be _slightly_ bigger than you," Ray continued, elated at seeing his wife smile.

"Hopefully," Neela agreed, "And hopefully he'll be out of here soon. He's going to spend enough time here when he's older when we are working."

"Yes," Ray said, "Maybe one day he'll even become a doctor."

"Or a rocker," Neela added.

"Or a rocker," Ray repeated, looking at his son struggling to imagine him older as the odds seemed so stacked against him.

**End Flashback**

"Ray?" a voice broke into his memory, "Are you ok, Ray?"

Ray quickly wiped the tears that were trickling down his face and looked at his wife.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ray lied, feeling shattered inside.

* * *

_What do you think? Please review!!!_


	23. Plagued by Nightmares

_I hope you like this!!! It's a bit depressing for me to write!!! But still read it!!!_

* * *

Ray tossed in his sleep, the same nightmare plaguing his dreams over and over.  
_  
"I'm sorry, we need your consent to turn off the machine," a blank faced doctor said. _

"No, he can still come back!" a voice cried; one Ray knew belonged to a distraught Neela.

"It's been three years, I think it is time," the doctor with no face persisted.

"You can't, you can't," Neela's shaking body crumpled to the floor, tears streaming down her face, "Tell him he can't, Ray!" she sobbed hysterically.

Ray did not know what to do: his doctor side told him to turn off the machine but his father side told him never to give up. The room started spinning violently as Ray looked from his begging wife and the emotionless doctor. He began to feel dizzy as voices crammed into his mind, fighting to be heard.

"He can survive!"

"He's dead, you know that, Ray; you are a doctor."

"He's yours and mine, our only child, our link!"

"Tommy can never come back, he's been gone too long."

"He still has his whole life ahead of him! He's young!"

"I'm so sorry, but I really think it's time, his brain isn't functioning."

"We've been through this before, Ray. He's a fighter and he will pull through!"

Neela's screamed words woke Ray with a start. He sat up, sweat drenching his body as his whole frame shivered, still frightened over what he had just dreamt. It had felt so real; all the emotions were still coursing through him: terror, relief, resignation, shock, disbelief, an overwhelming feeling of loss. He wiped his forehead with a shaky hand and climbed slowly out of bed. He looked over to the other side of the king-sized bed expecting to see his wife sleeping there, but then he remembered she was still at the hospital, keeping watch over Tommy. Part of Ray was glad she had not witnessed his nightmare, but the other wanted desperately to feel the warmth and comfort of her arms around him, to reassure him.

_Ring. Ring._

The phone jolted Ray into action and he went to answer it.

"Hello?" Ray said.

"Hi, it's Neela," the sound of his wife's voice made Ray's stomach lurch in worry about what could've happened at the hospital.

"Is anything wrong?" Ray asked quickly.

"No, no," Neela assured him, "I just wanted to hear the sound of your voice."

"Oh," Ray felt a wave of relief wash over him, "I'm gonna come in now. Do you wanna come here and get some sleep?"

"No," Neela replied, "I just want to be with you."

"Ok, I'll be there in about twenty minutes," Ray said.

"Bye," Neela almost whispered at the end of the phone.

"See ya in a bit," Ray put the phone back in its cradle and went to get a shower. He realized he smelt badly.About five minutes later, Ray stepped out of the shower and towelled his hair dry so it stuck up all over the place. He didn't care and pulled some jeans and a t-shirt straight out of the laundry basket to wear. Then he grabbed his keys off the side and headed to County.

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_R&R please!!!!!!!!!!!_ _cos then i'll love you!!!!_


	24. Wake Up

_Ok this is really short sorry!!!_

* * *

Neela stroked her son's soft brown hair and let tears drop gently down her cheeks. She desperately wanted him to wake up so much. It had been two weeks since the incident and although his body seemed to be healing, he wasn't waking. The bruises on his face were yellowing and dull; the cuts had all but closed up.

Her hand trailed along his cheek and then rested there. What she wouldn't give for his eyelids to flutter open and his sparkling green eyes to look up at her. She brushed a loose tuft of his hair away from his face and sighed. She wished they could be a happy family again. It only felt like yesterday that Tommy was introducing them to his first girlfriend and he and Ray were practising their guitars, joking around together. She smiled slightly as she remembered how tired Ray had been the next morning and how Tommy had mocked him.

Several people had visited him in the past week. First it was Alfie; she had been very upset and couldn't bring herself to look at his battered face before she had to leave. Then came Dom on his own, he had talked to his best friend for awhile, sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chair as Ray and Neela waited outside to give him some privacy. He had tried to act normal and be optimistic, but soon his eyes had welled with tears and he left too, promising to return with Myles and James. They had come yesterday, smiling half heartedly and joking to Tommy before leaving soon; it was hard for them.

They still hadn't caught the one who stabbed Tommy, Neela didn't really care, she just wanted her son to recover. She knew it mattered to Ray though, by his face when the cops kept telling them they'd found nothing. He wanted his son's attacker brought to justice.

Neela removed her hand from Tommy's face and sat back in her chair. Just at that moment, Ray entered. Neela looked up at him. He looked dishevelled; his hair was sticking up in random spikes all over the place and his clothes were creased, but at least clean. His usual bright green eyes now lacked their luster and he looked tired despite going home to sleep.

"Hey, how is he?" Ray came and sat beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"The same," Neela supplied. She rested her head on Ray's arm and felt her eyes close. She suddenly felt very tired. She drifted into a deep sleep; it was untroubled, however, unlike Ray's.

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_Please review cos then i'll give you a lump of cheese:)_


	25. They are Loud!

_Sorry it took awhile but its here now!! Enjoy and then review:)_

* * *

_I have to kill him, finish it off, that's the only way I can get out of this. But won't that only make things worse? If he is alive then I won't go down for murder. Though, if he is awake then he can tell them who attacked him and I'll go to juvy. They'll get me, but if he's dead then they won't suspect me. But it's wrong, taking a life. He was my friend at one point. He's a bastard though. It was him that got me chucked out of the band. Although, technically I left. But it was his fault! Right, I'm going to do it…__

* * *

_

"Hey Tommo," Dom greeted his unconscious friend as he entered the room followed by Myles, James, and Alfie.

"Whassup!" Myles forced a grin as he sat on the end of the hospital bed.

"We thought we better visit again 'cause you might be bored and tell you to get that lazy butt moving or we'll move it for you," Dom threatened jokily.

"Or I might steal Alfie!" James cracked a smile but, not surprisingly got no response, "Man, guess if he ain't gonna reply I can have your Alfie."

"In your dreams goofball," Alfie shook her head and elbowed him, "I'm sure he can hear you and when he wakes up, he is so gonna kick your ass!"

"Ah, but when he wakes up he won't be moving too fast so I'll make a run for Australia!" James smirked.

"Well I'll kick your ass for him," Alfie retorted, "I'm a black belt in karate." To prove her point she brought her leg up to her head, twisted round and launched herself into a flying kick into thin air.

"Hmm, impressive, but you missed by like this much," James sniggered holding his arms wide.

"Oh, ok" Alfie spun round and brought her foot right before James' nose stopping mid-kick and holding the awkward position. James got the picture.

"Whoa, ok karate kid, keep your feet and hands to yourself, thank you!" James stepped backwards.

"Once you two have finished your very funny argument, would you mind acting like mature people?" Dom questioned.

"No," Alfie and James said in unison.

"Fine, but would you stop fighting?" Dom shook his head and turned to the hospital bed where Tommy's pale face was.

"This is why we need you back, to keep things in order," Myles sighed.

"And we miss you a lot, especially when you get us free drinks!" James grinned.

"Plus, the band is completely going to pot without you," Dom added, "We haven't had a single gig without you."

"Yeah, so wake up," Alfie finished somberly.

"So then you can go back to making out with him!" James quipped, chuckling.

"Ok, that's it! You are so in for it!" Alfie growled and leapt at James.

"Break it up!" Dom jumped between the two laughing. He found it so much easier to visit Tommy when he was with the others because they made it more normal and light hearted. There was always banter and never deathly silence.

"Well anyway," Myles spoke loudly over the ruckus of the other three friends, "We thought we could play some music for you, you know, to cheer you up 'cause we know that's what you like best." He stood up, and entered the rabble. "Uh…guys! Music! Now!" he shouted.

"Oh yeah," James pulled out his heavy keyboard case and took the black instrument out. Dom got out his guitar and started strumming it. Meanwhile, Myles produced a single drum he'd brought with him.

"Sorry, I couldn't bring the whole thing," he grinned as he sat down with his measly instrument.

"Great, now I feel like an outcast," Alfie scowled.

"Why don't you sing?" James suggested.

"Not a chance!" Alfie said fiercely, "I can't sing to save my life."

"Be that way then," James shrugged, a smile twitching the corner of his mouth.

"This is a song we made up just for you," Dom told his comatose friend.

"One…two…three….four!" James counted them in and started playing. The sound of music drifted through the whole of the ICU.

* * *

"They are so going to get chucked out," Neela tutted but was smiling as she said it; she could tell the guys were enjoying it.

"It's a pretty awesome song," Ray bobbed his head in time with the beat from Myles' drum.

"Who's singing?" Neela asked, slightly happier for the first time in two weeks now that her son had all his friends around him.

"Uh…Dom I think, but there's someone else," Ray listened harder and caught the sound of a smooth female voice, "It's Alfie. Jeez, she's really good." Ray looked thoroughly impressed.

"Tommy might have competition for lead singer when he wakes up," Neela said not saying "if."

"Maybe they could do a duet," Ray said.

* * *

"Come on, wake up you lazy butt," Dom and Alfie finished the song and burst out laughing.

"Oh, he's so gonna wake up to that," Alfie giggled, "Definitely flattering."

"Yes, he'll love it," Dom chortled.

"Hey, I thought you said you weren't gonna sing?" James interrupted staring at Alfie in awe, "And I thought you said you couldn't sing to save your life?"

"Oh, the lyrics were catchy," Alfie shrugged him off, "Got anymore good ones?"

Dom nodded, rifling through the pile of sheets in his guitar case.

"Er…well as you could probably tell, that one was Come on, Wake up You Lazy Butt.' This other one is Move Your Butt, Moron' and the last one is If You Don't Move I'll Hit You!'" Dom read out the titles.

"Seriously?" Alfie laughed, "You really do love him a lot, don't you?"

"Yeah, well I'm not good at the soppy, emotional crap," Dom replied, "So which one?"

"Definitely has to be If You Don't Move I'll Hit You!'" Alfie giggled, "Do you have the lyrics?"

"Yup, here," Dom handed the group the music. They each scanned it and then poised to start.

* * *

"Man, they are loud," a voice startled Ray and Neela. They turned around to find Abby standing there with Luka.

"Yes, very," Luka agreed, wincing at the noise.

"What are they doing?" Abby queried peering into Tommy's room.

"Playing music for Tommy," Ray smiled at his friends.

"It'll be good for him, something familiar might bring him 'round," Abby said, sitting down beside her friends.

"But not so good for us, I think I'm going to be deaf," Luka told them.

"I like it," Ray shook his head.

"Yeah well, you are weird," Abby smiled.

"And I'm immune," Neela added.

"To this?" Luka asked, "I think even the guys in the ER can hear it!"

"Hey, you're forgetting I had to live with Ray's band," Neela reminded them.

"Oh yeah, was that even worse than this?" Abby asked sceptically.

"Trust me; it was ten times worse 'cause at least Tommy's band is in tune whereas Ray's... well…" Neela was cut off.

"Hey! We weren't that bad!" Ray protested.

"That's what you thought!"

* * *

Ollie concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as he made his journey. He was going to do it, he wasn't going to chicken out. He walked steadily down the dark street not even seeing the people bustling past him. Only one focus set in his mind. The lights of the hospital shone in front of him and he headed straight for them.

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_I'll give you a virtual banana!!_


	26. Retarded Dingbat, Spasticated Moron

_Ok i know this has taken me like YEARS to update and I'm sorry to keep you waiting!! don't murder me pwease, i'm only lickle!! Thanks to my beta-reader for helping me all the way through I don't thank you enough moonlitclarity!_ _I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!_

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Ollie walked purposefully into the busy ER. He wasn't sure where Tommy would be, but he decided he might as well just ask.

"Hey," he said to a red headed doctor that was rushing past.

"Not now ok, kid," the doctor shooed him away.

Ollie scowled after him as he pushed a gurney into a Trauma room. Ollie turned to find another doctor to ask when someone tapped him on the shoulder and he jumped out of his skin.

"Hello," a nurse smiled at him, "Are you looking for someone?"

"Yes," Ollie put on a fake smile, "Um…I was looking for a friend of mine who came in a couple of weeks ago, Tommy Barnett."

"Oh, you're not another one here to make as much noise as possible, are you?" she carried on smiling as she beckoned him to follow her to the elevator. Ollie went after her slightly confused about what she was talking about. "They've been playing so loud we could hear them all the way down here," the nurse told him, "Now, you do know he's in a coma, right?" Ollie didn't know this but he nodded anyway. The nurse pressed the buttons in the elevator for the ICU and leant against the back wall.

* * *

"I think we should go now," Dom said over the racket of Alfie and Myles arguing.

"Why? This is so much fun," James said sarcastically.

"You are an absolute…dickhead!" Alfie said.

"No, you are an absolute…crap hole," Myles replied.

"That's lame, numbskull," Alfie retorted.

"Knobhead."

"Wanker."

"Asswipe!"

"Retarded dingbat, spasticated moron," Alfie shouted. Everyone in the room turned to look at her, eyebrows raised. "What?" she shrugged.

"Anyone would think that this was a real argument apart from the insults being so bad," Dom said, "Have you chosen which one you want for the new title then?"

"No way are we gonna have any of those names," James shook his head, "And I really think we should go now, we've been here for five hours!"

"Good point, ok hopefully by the time we need a new song name, sleeping beauty here will be awake," Dom decided, "And he can save us from all Myles' and Alfie's ideas."

"Hopefully," James agreed, "Now come on."

Each in turn the band members and Alfie said goodbye to Tommy, packed up and left the hospital room. They saw Neela and Ray sitting outside talking to two dark haired doctors in white coats. The woman with blonde highlights was laughing at something Ray had said and he was looking offended. Dom smiled to himself, this was the most happiest and relaxed he'd seen his best friend's parents since all this had happened.

"We are gonna leave you, Mr. and Mrs. Barnett," James said, "Don't miss me too much."

"I'm sure we won't, James," Neela smiled at the cocky young boy, "Thanks for coming guys, though. I'm sure Tommy appreciated it."

"Yeah, I appreciated it too," Ray grinned, "That music was awesome. You better be coming back sometime soon. I just love seeing these guys' faces."

"Ok, see ya," Alfie said, "Race you slow pokes down the stairs!" She darted off to the stairwell.

"You're on, five bucks to the winner!" Dom shouted and with the promise of money, all the boys pelted down the stairs.

"I have this really bad feeling that we are gonna hear a crash, a yell, and next time we are gonna see one of them in the ER with a broken leg," Neela said.

"Yeah, me too," Abby flinched as she heard a scream of laughter from the stairs, "I'm waiting for the bang now."

Suddenly the elevator opened and a nurse stepped out followed by Ollie. Ray stood up, he hadn't seen the boy since he stormed out of the house, but he was glad he had come to see Tommy.

"Hey, Ollie," Ray greeted him.

"Hello, Mr. Barnett," Ollie replied, "I only found out recently about Tommy. It's so bad. I just wanted to come and talk to him for a little while. To apologise for a few things I've said, you know. That's if you don't mind."

"Sure, go in. I guess you want some privacy," Ray asked.

"Yeah, if that's ok," Ollie headed into the room.

This was gonna be easier than he had thought: all he had to do was go in, stab Tommy, this time more fatally, turn off the machines so they didn't give him away and then leave. He didn't really think through the part about how he was going to explain why he was the last one in the room though.

Ollie walked over to the hospital bed and looked down at the unconscious form of Tommy. He took in all the faded bruises that he had caused and the scars on his arms and head. But that was irrelevant to him now; all Ollie could think about was killing this boy. He placed his body in front of the bed to block what he was doing from view. Then he pulled out a knife from his sleeve. It was about four inches in length and very sharp. Ollie had stolen it from the foster home kitchen and it was the same knife he had used to stab Tommy the first time. He had cleaned the blood off very carefully so that if he was caught with it then it wouldn't give him away.

"Why didn't this finish you off the first time?" Ollie whispered, "Why couldn't you have just died? You always had to be a thorn in my side. I thought you were dead; it was snowing for Christ's sake! Yet still you survived. Why do you have to be so perfect? A good family, good grades, good looks, good music, and you're pretty much good at everything. Whereas I live in a freakin' foster home 'cause my mom was a junkie who overdosed and my dad left me for some whore he found at work. I had no friends except you guys and then you chucked me out! I hate your fucking guts!" He poised the knife above Tommy's heart, the point centimetres away from the vital organ.

"This is for ruining my life even more than your's, you bastard," Ollie hissed under his breath and lowered the knife.

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_Ooh, yeah anyhoo please review! hope you like the cliffie!! lol!! i'm pretty evil aren't I?_


	27. Green Eyes

_Ok I'm sorry this took soooo long but i was on holiday in France skiing! Whoop! luckily i didn't break anything! I got back last night and have been sleeping! Anyway, heres the next chapter. I did some research on comas from my beta readers advice and found loads of debates about whether people in comas could hear or not but it was pretty much all inconclusive which was no help whatsoever so i just went with what fitted my story! If any of you disagree sorry! Enjoy!_

Tommy could hear his parents, his friends, and the doctors, but he could not move. They spoke to him thinking that he most likely couldn't hear but he could, he heard every single little thing. He had listened to his mom crying at his beside, night after night, desperate to comfort her, but being paralysed to do anything. He had heard his dad talk to him about the latest rock bands and how some guy in the ER apparently got his head stuck in a cookie jar. He had happily danced along inside his head when his friends had come to play for him and laughed at all their banter. But they couldn't hear him, couldn't see that he was still alive. He didn't know why he couldn't move or talk or even open his eyes, but he guessed it was something to do with Ollie stabbing him. He was just glad he wasn't dead, but this didn't seem any better: stuck somewhere on the brink.

The guys had left a few minutes ago; Tommy last heard them yelling something about racing for money and then there was silence. About a minute later, he heard the door of his room open and soft footsteps drew closer to him. He felt uneasy as the atmosphere of the room became cold and tense. He desperately wanted to open his eyes to see who was in his room and why they weren't speaking. Suddenly a harsh voice reached him.

_"Why didn't this finish you off the first time?"_ He felt an icy chill go down the back of his spine as he recognised the voice. _"Why couldn't you have just died? You always had to be a thorn in my side. I thought you were dead; it was snowing for Christ's sake! Yet still you survived. Why do you have to be so perfect? A good family, good grades, good looks, good music, and you're pretty much good at everything. Whereas I live in a freakin' foster home 'cause my mom was a junkie who overdosed and my dad left me for some whore he found at work. I had no friends except you guys and then you chucked me out! I hate your fucking guts!"_

Each word hit Tommy like a physical blow as he had a terrible feeling of where this was headed. Ollie was here to kill him--properly. But he didn't want to die, he wasn't going to lie here like some damn vegetable so his attacker could have a second chance at finishing him off.

_"This is for ruining my life even more than yours, you bastard."_

The point of the knife reached Tommy's torso and was about to pierce the skin just above his heart when his eyes snapped open. The green irises shone brightly in the clinical hospital lights and the black pupils retracted abruptly. His whole body arched up with the shock and Ollie pulled back the knife, startled. There was a horrible choking, hacking sound as his throat caught on the intubation tube in his mouth. The machine beside his bed began wailing loudly and Ollie froze, terrified of the boy lying in the hospital bed thrashing about. Wide, wild eyes darting in random directions. He didn't know what to do. How could his plan have back fired so easily?!

Ray's head shot up at the sound of the screaming machines coming from Tommy's room. He looked through the glass and saw Ollie backing away from the bed, holding a knife. He sprang up and sprinted into the room, crashing through the door.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ray bellowed at the boy rushing protectively to Tommy's side looking concerned at the flailing limbs and beeping monitors telling him his son was in trouble. Frightened emerald eyes stared up at him.

"I…er…um," Ollie stuttered and then realised he was the one holding the weapon. He brandished the knife at Ray, trying to muster a ferocious face.

Ray stood his ground, he had worked out by now that this was the guy who tried to kill his son and there was no way he was going to let him try it again with Tommy this vulnerable.

"What are you doing, Ollie? Why are you trying to hurt Tommy?" Ray asked reasonably but with an edge to his voice.

"I…I…he…he chucked me out of the band…well…not exactly but I left 'cause they said the band wasn't going anywhere…but they lied, they did gigs…so I…uh…stabbed Tommy at one of them. I needed to finish it off so I came here, but I guess it's pointless," Ollie said quickly, his face flushed.

"You lied to me! You said you were visiting but instead you try and kill Tommy," Ray spat still keeping his body between Ollie and Tommy.

By this time, Luka, followed by Abby and Neela had entered the room. They were blocking Ollie's escape route. Neela's face twisted in anger at each word that came from Ollie's mouth. She could not help but hate this boy for what he had done to Tommy. She kept her eyes trained on the knife in Ollie's hand, anxious as it drew close to her husband and son."Being kicked out of the band is hardly a reason to take someone else's life!" Ray continued.

"But, but you don't understand, I live in a foster home, Mr.Barnett! That band was my life; those guys were my only friends, man!" Ollie swiped hot tears that were threatening to fall.

"And…?!" Ray shook his head unbelievingly.

"Look," Ollie suddenly got his courage up, if he wasn't going to kill Tommy there was only one thing to do, "If you don't lemme leave, I'll hurt one of you." He threatened them with the weapon. They all moved back slightly.Ray was getting more and more worried about Tommy's precarious position, he should really be getting drugs and help to stay conscious and he should be extubated before he ripped the inside of his mouth with the tube. Ray wanted Ollie to be sorted out as soon as possible so he could take care of his son. He would rather him be caught and never hurt Tommy again, but he didn't care as long as his son was out of danger.

"Go then," Ray shouted, "Get lost! Just leave my kid alone!" Ollie was shocked by his outburst and in that second, Luka leapt forward and twisted the knife from his grip. He had been waiting for that moment the whole time and Ray had given him the chance. Luka threw the knife on the floor and grabbed Ollie by the scruff of the neck just as security barged in.

"You sure took your time!" Abby gasped and hurried over to help Ray who was tending to Tommy.

"Sorry," one of the men looked abashed as they led the young boy away. He was limp in their arms, resigned to the fact he was looking at a long time in juvie for attempted murder, twice. Ray and Abby worked quickly on Tommy, pumping him with drugs and then preparing to extubate.

"All right, Tommy," Ray spoke softly to his son, "I want you to blow out as hard as you can on the count of three, ok?" Tommy nodded. "One, two, three."

Tommy blew out, coughing violently as the tube slithered out of his throat.

"Now don't try to speak," Abby told the boy. Tommy looked disappointed after so many weeks of not speaking and did not look like he would be  
compliant.

"Oh, thank god you're ok, Tommy," Neela finally decided that it was the right time to come over and hug her son gently, "You had us so worried."

Tommy smiled weakly at her and let his frail arms rest on her back.

"Me too," he whispered hoarsely.

"Tommy, what did Abby just tell you?" Ray sighed.

"No speak," Tommy spoke in short sentences, grinning, glad to be awake.

"Yes," Abby laughed, just as happy as Tommy's parents to hear him speak even though they told him not too.

"Boring," Tommy breathed.

"What? Being in a coma for over two weeks?" Ray asked, "It hasn't been a walk in the park for us either. Just watching you sleep, you lazy bones."

"S'funny," Tommy smirked.

"For you maybe," Ray replied, letting out a long breath as he thought about what they had just been through.

"I slept; you look like you haven't slept," Tommy's voice grew slightly stronger, "In weeks. You look awful."

"Oh, gee, thanks. I see you haven't lost your disrespect for me," Ray groaned. Neela chuckled, she knew everything was going to be all right now that her two boys were back to normal.

"Never."

_What do you think? I guess you're probably thinking that it was a waste of time waiting for this so I'm sorry! I tried! Please review if you can find it in your hearts!_


	28. Jed

_Sorry this has taken me ages to update but i had a ton of homework that was just piling up and piling up! my desk was literally covered in it! i hate my english teacher coz i wrote my firstest novel and she hasn't even given it back to me like after a month! anyhoo, enjoy!

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_

Tommy's eyes flickered slowly open and he looked blearily around the room, blinking rapidly to adjust his pupils. Sunlight streamed in through the open window by his bed side and he heard a bird chirp somewhere outside. Tommy sat up slightly and propped on his elbows to get a better look. He saw cars parked on the road along the street by the hospital, their hoods shining in the bright light. People were walking down the side walk, completely engrossed in whatever they were doing. He spotted two women pushing strollers next to each other chatting leisurely, ignoring the squawking toddler who was tottering along behind, trying to keep up. A boy rolled past on his skateboard, baggy pants hanging halfway down his bottom. Some dogs barked excitedly as their owners passed each other, straining on their leash to get a good sniff.

The fourteen year old in the hospital bed sighed wearily and slumped back on his pillows. He wished so much to be out there, enjoying the sunshine on a lovely Chicago day, but he had to be cooped up in a boring hospital ward, confined to his bed and only allowed to leave it when he was to practice walking with one of the doctors. He even had to pee in a container.The days were so dull and uneventful. He lay in bed and read, though he'd finished all his books ages ago or watched t.v., but there was only so much _Friends_ a person could take. He knew most of the scenes by heart. What he lived for were the times his friends came to the hospital to visit him. Mom and Dad were okay, but they weren't as much fun. Last time Dom, Myles, James, and Alfie came, Tommy had ended up with tears in his eyes from laughing so much and Dom had ended up with a two litre bottle of cola down his neck. This had led to Alfie being chased around the room by the furious boy and using a chair to defend herself.Tommy smiled at the memory and hoped they would come back soon so he didn't decide to top himself to put himself out of his misery.

Suddenly a small blue bird landed on the window sill by the vase of fake, plastic flowers. It was electric blue on its head and crest, but on its chest were creamy white feathers. A black ring around its neck made it quite distinctive, somewhat like a necklace. A slightly darker hue of blue feathers lined its wings and back with a single white line emblazoned across the middle of the wing. Tommy recognised it as a blue jay even though there weren't usually many birds except pigeons in Chicago. He couldn't tell whether it was male or female because both sexes were very similar. He decided on it being a male and named it Jed.

"Hey there, little guy," Tommy smiled and carefully leaned out of bed so he could reach the window. The bird eyed him beadily, as if deciding if he was a threat or not. It hopped forward towards Tommy's outstretched palm and then immediately darted away, chirping.

"What's the matter? I don't smell too bad, do I? The nurse gave me a bed bath a couple of hours ago." The bird cocked its tiny head to one side and studied the person before him.

"How 'bout I give you this?" Tommy slowly reached to his side table, anxious not to startle the bird and scare it away. He reached out a few seconds later with a piece of popcorn, "I know it's not what you usually eat, but the guys left it in here when they came last time and you never know, you might just like it."

Tommy didn't have any idea why he was talking to the bird; must be something to do with having no one visiting him and making him go mad.

Jed shuffled cautiously forward and then snatched the morsel from Tommy. His soft feathers tickled the boy's palm and he had to stifle a chuckle. Once Jed had eaten the popcorn, Tommy handed him some more, soon he had Jed in his hand pecking impatiently for the next bit.

"Ouch!" Tommy yelped as Jed pecked him harder, "I get your point for crying out loud!" The bird looked up at him and Tommy swore he was feeling guilty. Another sharp poke swept that idea away. "If you do that one more time…"

"Tommo!" the door to the hospital room swung open with an almighty bang. Jed jumped, startled, and fluttered frantically out of the open window and away.

Tommy looked up and grinned at his friends as they burst into the room. They tumbled over one another and finally ended up by his bed.

"Yo!" Myles grinned down at him.

"Hey," Tommy replied.

"We've come for a party! School's out for the holidays and we thought you'd wanna celebrate even though…well…you haven't even been to school in weeks, but who gives a damn!" James shouted.

"Geez!" Tommy winced, "Keep it down or you'll get half the people in here chucking you out."

"Sorry," James said and then stage whispered, "Boring bugger."

"Hey!"

"Oh, did you hear that? Whoops!" he smirked.

"All right, break it up," Alfie stepped in.

"Break what up?" James asked innocently, "It's not like I'm gonna start a fight with a lame guy."

"Who you calling lame?!" Tommy retorted.

"The guy in the hospital bed."

"Huh?" Myles looked confused for a second and then finally understood.

"Man, you're slow today," Alfie laughed and then turned her attention to the other two, "Now play nice or I'll smack you."

"How someone would love to have you as their mom," Myles said sarcastically and then put on a high pitched voice, "Go tidy your room or I'll beat you up and throw you in front of a train." The boys laughed, but Alfie did not look amused.

"Do you want a taste of that then?" she raised herself onto the balls of her feet and raised her fists.

"Er…I think I'll pass. Thanks, but no thanks," Myles spoke quickly, eyeing her warily.

"Good. Good."

"Anyhoo, let's crack open the cola and chips," James rubbed his hands together.

"No, no, no way!" Dom yelped, "No more cola!" He caught the mischievous glint in Alfie's eye, "In fact, no liquids whatsoever."

"Aw, is lickle Dominic worried?" Alfie cooed.

"Dominic?! Never call me Dominic!" Dom shouted.

"Now this should be funny," Tommy whispered to James and Myles as they watched the events unfold, "Personally I hope they use the ice cream this time."

"Why?"

"'Cause I wanna see Dom with Ben and Jerry's in his hair."

"What makes you so sure it won't be Alfie with stuff all over her?"

"Do you wanna bet?"

"Sure. Ten bucks on Dom to win and Alfie to get covered in crap!"

"Done."

* * *

"Piss off, Morris," Ray shoved the annoying attending away and walked into the doctor's lounge.

"But what do I do?"

"Um…be yourself?" Ray shrugged, "Actually scratch that, be as far from yourself as possible. Then maybe she won't run a mile."

"Thanks a lot, Barnett," Morris frowned, "You may be married to a beautiful woman and have a kid, but I got squat. Remember that." Morris turned to leave the room. Ray watched him and then sighed, knowing he was being harsh.

"Ok, Morris," Morris span round, beaming.

"You'll help me?"

"Sure," Ray conceded reluctantly, "But don't keep asking me what to do or I'll change my mind."

"Fine! What do I wear?"

* * *

_What do you think? Do you like it? Or think its crap? please review!_


	29. Moron Degree

_Hey, this has taken a while to update so don't kill me! I've been watching ER and the bits with Ray and Neela are what i live for! why the hell don't they admit their feelings?! its really frustrating! well, next week looks awesome! a Barnett and Gates face off! Anyhoo please read and review and above all enjoy!_

* * *

"How about…this one?" Ray looked up from the magazine he had been flicking through and took in the sight of Morris in tight black jeans and a pink shirt.

"Argh! Are you trying to frustrate me to death? That's horrible!" Ray made a face at seeing Morris' legs more than he would've liked.

"So that's a no?"

"Definitely not!" Ray shook his head, "Red heads do not look good in that shade of pink."

"Fine, I'll try the next one," Morris looked disheartened as he turned back into the changing room.

Meanwhile Ray contemplated on why the hell he was in a clothes store helping out Morris who annoyed him to no end, on his day off. He had sat through two hours of torment already and didn't know how much longer he could hold until he finally had enough of seeing Morris in clothes he didn't think anyone should have the displeasure of seeing him in. Why couldn't Morris be normal? And have a decent dress sense? It was like trying to get a five year old to choose a set of clothes that would last and not look too outlandish.

"This one?" Ray was tempted to just nod and get out of this hell hole, but when he looked up and saw the clothes, he nearly fell off his chair in shock.

"What the hell is that?!" Ray gasped, repulsed.

"I dunno, it was in the pile. I thought it looked okay," Morris said, disappointed.

"Morris, I think that's a girl's top," Ray said.

"Oh, that's why it's so tight and doesn't fit my body at all," Morris nodded in understanding and disappeared behind the curtain. Ray stared after him disbelievingly, Morris was so…weird!

* * *

"Shoes now," Morris headed into a nearby shop.

"Hold it; there is no need to go restocking your whole wardrobe. You're not a girl are you? Needing a new outfit for each outing?" Ray grabbed his sleeve.

"Well, I wanna impress and I don't have any shoes that go with this colour scheme."

"Man," Ray released Morris as if he'd been burned, "You are a girl!"

"Yeah right, Barnett," Morris rolled his eyes, "Lemme get some shoes and then we can go to the food court."

"Ok, now you're talking!" Ray grinned.

* * *

"Use me for support. Don't take it too fast or you'll damage yourself," the nurse spoke gently but to Tommy, she seemed patronising.

"I can handle it," Tommy pulled himself from her grasp and started taking steps along the corridor. He was going quite well and the pain in his side was gone until he stumbled slightly on the hem of his gown. He was about to fall when someone caught his elbow.

"Whoa. Careful, man, you're gonna hurt yourself." Tommy looked up into the eyes of his dad. He steadied himself, feeling embarrassed. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Tommy grunted, removing his arm. He hated the way everyone was always trying to help him, it annoyed him. Why couldn't they understand he had to do this on his own?

"Want some help?"

"No."

"Want some…company?" Ray tried again, knowing his son was struggling with not being able to do things on his own yet. Tommy just wanted things to get back to normal.

"I guess," Tommy shrugged and carried on his steady trudge. Ray looked at the nurse and mouthed 'I'll look after him.' She nodded and turned away.

"So…" Ray fell into step with the boy, "Where d'you wanna go?"

"Outside," Tommy replied.

"D'you think you can manage? It's pretty cold," Ray warned.

"I'll put a sweatshirt on then," Tommy walked on unperturbed.

"Right," Ray changed tack, "Let's go to the roof then, I like it up there."

"Sure, whatever," Tommy said.

* * *

When they arrived on the roof, after a bit of struggle up a few stairs, Tommy was in a much happier mood.

"God, it's so nice out here," Tommy breathed in the fresh air and grinned at his dad.

"I know," Ray smiled back, "Look at the view." He gestured to the expanse of Chicago spread out before them. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Dad, anything's beautiful to me. I've been cooped up in a hospital bed way to long. If you showed me a piece of crap that was on the road I'd be happy," Tommy replied.

"Well, it just so happens there is plenty of crap on the street outside the hospital. Wanna take a look?" Ray smirked.

"Yeah, love to," Tommy answered just as sarcastically, "But I'm not sure my nurse will be that ecstatic if I disappear."

"Oh, she won't mind, you're with me and I'm a qualified doctor," Ray said.

"That's what you tell the patients but I'm not so sure myself," Tommy sniggered.

"Thanks a bunch, nice to know my son has absolute faith in my medical abilities," Ray pouted.

"Hey, I'm not saying anything about your 'medical abilities.' I'm just saying that I think you just pretend you're qualified to make you sound more professional."

"Well, what's this then?" Ray plucked at his white coat name tag where it said MD at the end.

"What's that stand for then?" Tommy feigned puzzlement, "Moron Degree?"

"Oh ha, ha," Ray laughed half heartedly, "You know full well it means Medical Degree."

"Dad, what have I told you about stealing. You better give that back to its rightful qualified owner before they kick your ass," Tommy scolded.

"Right, pack it in, Mister Cheeky," Ray shook his head and muttered, "No respect!"

"Ah, sorry, I haven't had much of a chance to use all my sarcasm and insults while being stuck in a hospital bed with a hole in me. I just wanted a chance to vent steam and you were the best opportunity," Tommy stuck out his bottom lip.

"Enough of the guilt trip, you should be the one feeling sorry for me, guess what I had to do today?"

"What?"

"Guess."

"I dunno, but it couldn't be any worse than my tortuous training day," Tommy said.

"Oh, I bet you it is. I stupidly agreed to help Morris dress for a date. It was hell! I spent the morning sitting in some men's shop watching the moron come in and out dressed in all sorts of crap no one would be seen dead in. I mean, who would wear a green pair of pants?"

"A leprechaun?"

"Ha, yeah. Well, he wanted to wear bright green pants and a purple shirt with red swirls on it."

"Are you sure he wasn't just leading you on for the fun of it?"

"No, I'm one hundred percent sure he actually thought it looked good!" Ray smirked at the thought.

"Well, shopping, that's not that bad," Tommy replied.

"Wait, I haven't gotten to the worst of it yet. Then we went to a shoe shop and he bought five, yes five, pairs of shoes!"

"And…?"

"We went into this….lingerie shop."

"Huh?!" Tommy's head snapped up and he gawped at his father, "You did what?"

"Hey, hey, it wasn't my idea!" Ray protested, "Morris wanted to get a present for the lucky girl."

"Yuck, man. You didn't get anything for Mom did you?"

"No," Ray grinned at his son's repulsed face, "So I guess that was a pretty bad day." Tommy's face suddenly fell for some reason and Ray was concerned.

"What's up, Tom?"

"Not as bad a day as when I got stabbed," he whispered, "That was the scariest, most painful thing that ever happened to me. I will never forget that feeling. I thought I was gonna die. I think I should've. How the hell did I survive it? You know, I still don't understand why Ollie did it. Did he really hate me that much?"

Ray hadn't been prepared for this outburst. They hadn't talked about the attack at all since Tommy came out of the coma. Every time someone approached the subject Tommy either closed himself in or skipped away from it as quickly as possible. This was a good start on Tommy's mental road to recovery.

"Ollie was one messed up kid, Tommy. He's had a hard life and I think he was just tipped over the edge. I don't think he hated you, but I can't really tell because I'm not him. I don't have a clue what was going on inside his head when he tried to kill you."

"I have nightmares about it. I get to the part where I'm dying and then I wake up screaming, drenched in sweat," Tommy shuddered. Ray put a comforting hand around his shoulder.

"Cold?" Tommy shook his head.

"Well, let me tell you something," Ray took a deep breath, wondering how the conversation had turned so serious all of a sudden and whether this was a good time to tell Tommy about the past. He decided it was, "Before me and your mom got together, she was with a man named Michael Gallant."

"Did she love him?"

"No, let me finish," Ray halted him; "He was a soldier in Iraq and was away a lot. Your mom had no one to live with so she moved in with me. We were roomies. Then she got married to Gallant. It was fine to start with, we became best friends, but then we started getting feelings for each other. "

"When Mom was still married?" Tommy gaped, "Did you have an affair?"

"No, no, listen. Neither of us wanted to admit our feelings even as they grew. Your mom moved out. But then Michael was killed by a roadside bomb. We spent months still not admitting our feelings and even though she was now free to do as she pleased, she felt it was too soon. She found a rebound guy in Tony Gates."

"Isn't he one of the docs at County?"

"Yeah. I was so jealous and me and your mom had a huge argument. After that I stormed out of the hospital. Your mom suddenly decided to run after me because she realised that now was the time to admit she was in love with me. She shouted to me just as I was heading into the road. I was distracted and just at that moment a truck came. It knocked me flying. I still have nightmares about the looming hood and the driver's surprised face before it smashed into me. I remember the pain. Tom, you are never gonna forget the stabbing, but you'll live with it," Ray finished.

"How'd you survive?" Tommy asked after this revelation into his father's past.

"Barely. It mashed me up completely. I had massive internal bleeding, all my ribs were broken, I had a shattered pelvis, a fractured arm, and a cracked skull. But I'm still here today and fully functional thanks to all the doctors here."

"Now I know why you're so ugly and dumb! You have an excuse," Tommy chuckled.

"Oh, is that all I get for my life story? Well, thanks a bunch!" Ray grinned at his son.

* * *

_Phew, this is quite long! I didnt realsie, and not much happens but i just love writing about Ray's and Tommy's time together. With all the teasing and the sarcasm! Please review!_


	30. You Weigh a Ton!

**Sorry it took awhile! I think I may be nearing the end so you don't kill me for not updating! Enjoy!**

Tommy grinned from ear to ear as he pulled on his t-shirt over his bare chest, a few dulling yellow bruises, cuts, and a white pad taped to his skin were all the remnants of his attack. He slipped a warm, blue, Quicksilver hoodie on and then slid his feet into the sneakers on the floor. He was going home and couldn't wait. Over a month in hospital and he was finally getting outta there! The teenage boy grinned at his dad who was standing by the door, holding a bag that contained Tommy's stuff. Neela hadn't come to take him out of hospital because she had to work, his father had told him. That made him slightly disappointed but the overwhelming feeling of freedom quickly wiped the emotion from his mind.

"Ready to go, man?" Ray asked.

"Yep," Tommy smiled, knowing that he wouldn't lose the expression for hours yet. "I've been ready for ages!" He walked confidently to the door, the weeks of physical therapy making it much easier for him to move without being in immense pain.

"Come on then," Ray led his son out of the hospital and to their car.

* * *

As Tommy watched Chicago whip past, he thought about spending time out in the park with his friends and going back to school. How much would he have to catch up on? He was going to have tons of homework. Maybe they'd let him off, after all, he'd nearly died. Actually, he didn't think his English teacher would, he could imagine the conversation they'd have.

"Sir, I haven't done my assignment because I got stabbed and spent over a month in hospital."

"Well, what did you go and get stabbed for? I want that paper tomorrow or I'll get you to write that _and_ one about making up lame excuses!"

Tommy chuckled to himself and his dad gave him a funny look. He raised his eyebrows at him.

"What?" Tommy asked.

"What are you laughing at?" Ray queried.

"Nothing, are we there yet?" Tommy looked out of the window.

"Tommy, surely you know the way to your own home?"

"Yes, 'course I do," Tommy said, he put on mock frown, "That way, ain't it?" He pointed down a random alley.

"We're here," Ray pulled up into their drive.

"Good, good, I wanna get my guitar," Tommy almost fell out of the car in his haste to get into the house.

"Careful, I don't want to have to take you straight back to the ER," Ray leapt out of the car and tugged his keys from the ignition. He headed after his son and they both reached the door. Ray unlocked the house and the two stepped through the door. Tommy was about to step into the living room when…

"SURPRISE!" the yell of several voices made the young boy almost jump out of his skin.

"Christ!" he yelped and backed off as his friends and a few relatives appeared, dotted all over the room.

"Happy Birthday, slash Christmas, slash coming home party!" James grinned; a party hat perched jauntily on the side of his gelled hair.

"Wow, I dunno what to say," Tommy laughed as Alfie popped out from the tv, her face painted with pictures that she must've drawn herself as they looked so lopsided.

"Yo, Tommy!" she charged over and flung her arms around his neck, then she kissed him full on the lips.

"Whoa, major yuck scene!" Myles grimaced.

"Yeah, get a room," James added.

"No, don't you dare," Ray warned.

"I wasn't gonna!" Tommy smiled, "Okay, where's the food? I'm starving!"

"Hey, that's my line!" Myles pouted.

"I don't care," Tommy headed over to the kitchen and caught sight of all the food laid out. Then he noticed his mom bending over the oven. She straightened up holding a tray and the boy smelt a charcoaled whiff. Neela looked sheepish.

"Hey Tommy, I kinda burnt the pizzas a little bit," she said, holding out the tray.

Tommy looked at the blackened pizza. "A little bit? That looks like…like…"

"It's toast." Ray joined the conversation.

"No, it's pizza," Neela corrected him.

"Uh…no, I meant…it doesn't matter. We've got plenty of stuff that your mom didn't have the chance to burn because it's cold," Ray grinned.

"That's not fair; I don't always mess up the cooking!" Neela said, "I can cook pasta."

"Yeah, anything else?" Ray raised his eyebrows.

"Well…" Neela paused and then turned to her son for support, "Can't I cook?"

"Whoa, no way I'm getting involved!" Tommy quickly darted out of the room to join his friends.

"You can't cook," Ray said quietly.

"I CAN!"

Alfie and the other three boys were sitting on the couch flicking chips at each other and drawing smiley faces on Myles' cheek. They had progressed from the faces to ruder pictures now. Myles looked in the mirror and gaped at what James had just drawn.

"That better not be black marker 'cause that looks like a pair of balls," he threatened, turning to James who immediately whipped the pen behind his back and smiled cheekily.

"It's not balls, it's a…pair of cherries," he said lamely.

"They're not cherries, that definitely looks like a…" Dom was cut off from his scrutinising of James' artwork by Alfie.

"Right! Presents!" she announced and produced a small one with a flourish. James smiled gratefully at her as Myles was distracted.

"Wow, cool," Tommy grinned and took it, "Thanks." He unwrapped the coloured wrapping and pulled out a necklace with a mini guitar on the end, "It's awesome!"

"Glad you like it," Alfie nodded and then pecked him on the cheek.

"Now mine, now mine!" James jumped up and down like a child.

"Anyone would think you like spending money on me, James," Tommy laughed and stopped the hyper boy mid bounce.

"I forgot that," he frowned, "Ah well, open it!"

"Gee, ok," Tommy pulled open the package and shook out the t-shirt that was neatly folded in it. The clothing was black and had Greenday on it with the symbol. "Thanks, dude."

"No problem." James disappeared off into the kitchen to get some food whilst Tommy was handed several more gifts. He gained another t-shirt, a DVD and a few CDs from Dom and Myles.

James came back to the couch and found his seat had been taken by Tommy. He resolved this by planting his backside on Alfie's knee.

"God, you weigh a ton!" she spluttered, spraying her Coke all over him.

"Ergh! I don't weigh anything, you're just weak!" James replied indignantly.

"You're gonna break my knee!"

"Well, tell you're boyfriend to move his butt then."

"Ah!" Alfie shoved him with all her might, her arm muscles working overtime to shift him, "Get off!" With a final grunt she managed to drop him on the floor.

"No fair," James sulked.

"Get over yourself."

* * *

"Why do you have…is that a penis on your face, Myles?" Ray squinted at the boy who flushed crimson.

"N-no, they're cherries," Myles stuttered.

"You sure about that, man?" Ray arched an eyebrow.

"Yes!" Myles leapt to his feet abruptly and scooted off to the bathroom.

"Let's get some music on!" Dom suddenly shouted, "Where's my guitar?!" He hurried off to find it and James followed suit, going to collect his keyboard.

"Who wants to help me get my drums up from the basement?" Myles emerged from the bathroom grinning. No one moved to help him."Tommy?" he looked at the boy.

"Hey, I'm a cripple, leave me alone!" Tommy smirked and levered himself to his feet.

"Last time I checked you were moving perfectly fine," Myles grumbled.

"I'll help you," Ray said, "If you let me play with you."

"Don't see why not," Myles shrugged, "More the merrier, Mr. Barnett."

"But you better not mess it up, Dad!" Tommy's yell floated down from halfway up the stairs.

"Nice to know you have faith in me!"

**What do you think?! please review!**


	31. Cutie Pie

_Hey, guys! this is the end! the last chappie! whoop! i'm so proud! i've actually finished it! i really didn't think i'd ever be able to give it up as i loved writing it but i think its time. hehe that sounds cheesy. plus i'm struggling to update cos i've got exams. thank all you guys for reviewing but please review one last time and tell me what you thought of the whole thing. One final HUGE thank you to my beta reader, Moonlitclarity, who has edited all my mistakes, which i must tell you were numerous. I'll shut up now, on with the story, its a very light hearted end cos thats how i **always **end my stories! it wouldn't be mine if i didn't. ENJOY!

* * *

_

Six figures stood in the cleared space in the Barnett's living room. The drum kit had finally made it up the stairs from the basement with a lot of effort on Ray and Myles' part. Tommy had just stood and laughed at them, much to their annoyance. At the back, Myles was already making sure he got the beat right. James was going through scales whilst Ray, Dom, and Tommy tried to get their guitars in tune.

"Just face it, Dad," Tommy shook his head, "Your guitar is old and pretty crappy."

"It is not, this guitar has seen me through so many gigs I've lost count!" Ray protested.

"Which shows it's old," Tommy grinned as Ray growled.

"Hey, hey, cool it, guys and er…Mr. Barnett," Alfie spoke, not too certain on how she was supposed to address Tommy's dad.

"Call me Ray, Alfie," Ray smiled, strumming his strings.

"Um…okay," Alfie nodded but seemed hesitant, "Are you ready?" There were several murmurs of yes.

"Right," Tommy took over, seeing his girlfriend was nervous even though it was only a bit of fun for his birthday. "Let's play."

Neela came into the living room just as they began to play. The sound was immense, and pretty good, even she had to admit. The lyrics were very catchy. She joined Abby and Luka who she'd invited because she didn't want to spend the whole evening talking to teenagers. They were watching the band and Luka was even tapping a foot along with Myles' erratic drum beat.

"What do you think?" Neela shouted.

"Slightly better than it was in the hospital," Abby yelled back, "But I still don't think I'll be able to hear anything for days."

"Where are Joe and Ana?" Neela queried.

"Joe's over there," Luka pointed to the boy who was dancing with several of the other kids."And Ana is…" she searched the room until she finally spotted her daughter, "There," Abby gestured at the little girl who was dancing with Alfie as the older girl sang. She was trying to sing along, but she couldn't make sense of the words and finally gave up, reverting to singing 'la la la.'

"Aw," Neela smiled. The child grew bored of Alfie's company and moved on to Tommy who grinned at Ana. He set his guitar down, leaving Ray and Dom to play the tune and scooped her up.

"Hey, you little monkey. What are you doing here?" he chuckled.

"Singing! La, la, laaa!" Ana squealed as Tommy tickled her.

Neela looked on, slightly worried that her son might stretch his stitches and injure himself, but he seemed fine and she tried to relax. Abby smiled at her anxious friend.

"He's fine, Neela; he's as tough as old boots," Abby told her. Neela smiled sheepishly and tore her eyes away. "If he survived all that I think he'll be fine picking up a little girl like Ana."

"Yeah, of course," Neela nodded, feeling the worry evaporate.

* * *

"Yay, we have a mascot!" James cheered, grinning at the tiny girl in Tommy's arms, "Aren't you a little cutie pie, squirt?" Ana frowned at him and then raised an eyebrow. She whispered something in Tommy's ear. He smirked. 

"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" James pouted but Ana stuck her tongue out at him.

"None of your bis-ee-ness," she blew a raspberry.

"Business," Tommy corrected her.

"What-ever," she said slowly, struggling to get the right words.

"Ooh, someone's getting a right attitude, aren't you, Madam?"

"You sound like my dad," Ana scowled, "Anyway, can I?"

"If you want."

"Do what?" James persisted.

"Nothing," Tommy set the girl on the floor and she disappeared into the crowd.

"You two, we are still playing here!" Myles yelled at them.

"Oh, crap!" Tommy listened to the words and found they'd changed song. He joined back in. James paused and then started his keyboard again.

After a few songs, the band took a break so they could have a drink and some food. Tommy helped himself to a Sprite and swigged it gratefully. Ray came up beside him and poured out some of the fizzy liquid.

"Enjoying yourself?"

"I'm having more fun than I've had in a _long_ time!" Tommy grinned, "But that's not saying much, I guess."

"Not overexerting yourself?"

"'Course not," Tommy replied.

"Good." Ray smiled, "Wanna start playing again?"

"Sure."

"Ah, wait!" Neela halted them, "Birthday cake!" She brought out a sponge that had fifteen glowing candles on it.

"Cool! Food!" Myles rubbed his stomach and eyed the cake hungrily.

"You just ate five slices of burnt pizza!" James gaped, "You pig!"

"The key word there being "burnt". I need something to get the taste of charcoal out!" Myles grinned.

"For that, young man, you aren't getting any cake," Neela announced.

"Oh no, please," Myles begged."Everyone, one, two, three…"

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Tommy, happy birthday to you!" The whole room sang the song but Ana sang the loudest and the shrillest. She beamed at everyone but finally her gaze fell on James.

"Who wants a piece?" Neela asked and everyone clamoured to get some. Neela passed a slice to everyone.

"Hey, will someone pass me a piece?!" James shouted.

"Ok," Ana nodded, a wicked smile playing on her lips. Neela gave her a slice and she turned to the teenage boy.

"Here you go!" And with that she picked up the cake and shoved it into James' face. She had to stand on tiptoes to reach. It made a loud SPLAT.

"That's for calling me cutie pie!" Ana smirked.

"Ana Margaret Kovac, that was very naughty!" Abby tried to tell her daughter off, but even she couldn't help but laugh at James' cake covered face.

"I love this girl!" Alfie grinned at Ana, "Why didn't I think of that?!"

"Well, I thought of this!" Tommy appeared holding a bottle of pop that he'd shaken vigorously. And aiming it at the group of people.

"Don't you dare!" Neela shouted.

"Why not?!" Tommy undid the lid and the brown liquid spewed out drenching the crowd before him.

"Oh my god! You are _so_ in for it, Tommy!" Alfie screeched and leapt at him.

"Hey, hey!" Tommy took a step back, "You can't hurt me! It could be dangerous! I only just got out of the hospital!"

"For this, I think we'll make an exception!!" Neela grinned and everyone chased after Tommy.

"Uh oh!"

* * *

_Please review this one last time and have an Easter egg! BYE!_


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